The Story Behind Dua Lipa’s 100-Carat Met Gala Necklace

Christian Allaire

May 1, 2023 at 5:54 PM·6 min read

All eyes were on Dua Lipa as she arrived at the Met Gala red carpet tonight. As one of the co-hosts of tonight’s event—which honors the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s new exhibition, “Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty”—Lipa had to deliver a glamorous look. The star didn’t disappoint. She wore a white and black tweed ballgown from Chanel, the same design that Claudia Schiffer wore for the fall 1992 couture collection. But her choice of accessories—particularly, that jaw-dropping diamond necklace—has an interesting backstory.

Tonight, Lipa became the first star to wear Tiffany & Co.’s new Legendary diamond, which is set on the label’s Lucida Star necklace. The white Legendary diamond is over 100 carats and pays homage to the shape of the iconic yellow Tiffany diamond via its near-identical cushion cut. According to the label, the new white diamond is D-colored, features 82 facets, and is responsibly sourced from Botswana.

The original 128.54-carat yellow Tiffany diamond was found back in 1977 in South Africa’s Kimberley diamond mines, and it has since become one of Tiffany’s most famous pieces (in 2019, its value was estimated at a whopping $30 million). Only four women have worn the original Tiffany diamond. Socialite Mary Whitehouse was the first to wear it at a ball for the jewelry company in 1957. She was followed by Audrey Hepburn, who wore the diamond for 1961 publicity shots for Breakfast at Tiffany’s; Lady Gaga at the 2019 Academy Awards; and Beyoncé in a 2021 Tiffany & Co. campaign. With her fresh, updated take on the world-famous necklace, Lipa also made her own fashion history tonight.

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