Kim Kardashian Wins Bidding War for Pendant Worn by Princess Di

Attallah Cross sells for more than double its pre-auction estimate
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 19, 2023 2:01 AM CST
Kim Kardashian's Latest Acquisition Was Worn by Princess Diana
Kim Kardashian arrives at the 2022 Baby2Baby Gala on Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022, at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, Calif.   (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)

In the final five minutes of a Sotheby's auction for the Attallah Cross, four bidders competed to buy the pendant worn by Princess Diana. The winner? Kim Kardashian, whose winning bid of around $200,000 on Wednesday was more than double the pre-auction estimate, the Guardian reports. Luxury jewelry design house and court jeweler Garrard commissioned the pendant in the 1920s, and businessman Naim Attallah bought it from Garrard in the 1980s. He was friends with Di, and loaned it to her multiple times, most famously at a 1987 charity gala in London.

The cross-shaped pendant is comprised of square-cut amethysts with 5.25 carats of circular-cut diamonds as accents. "Jewelry owned or worn by the late Princess Diana very rarely comes on to the market, especially a piece such as the Attallah Cross, which is so colorful, bold and distinctive," says the head of jewelry at Sotheby's London. "To some extent, this unusual pendant is symbolic of the princess’s growing self-assurance in her sartorial and jewelry choices, at that particular moment in her life."

Last month, Vogue did a piece on the cross, which it called Diana's "most unusual accessory." Forbes notes Diana is believed to be the only person who ever wore it, and the late Attallah's son confirmed that to Vogue, adding that few people other than the iconic princess could have pulled off the item: "When I was growing up, we’d always have it on the table for Christmas lunch, but it was never worn by anyone other than Diana and it hasn’t been seen in public since she died." (More Kim Kardashian stories.)

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