Over the past few months, the world’s collective jaw has dropped as Anant Ambani wed Radhika Merchant in a lavish series of events. There have been musical performances (Justin Bieber! Rihanna! Katy Perry!), there were celebrities (Priyanka Chopra! Kim Kardashian!), and there was even a convention center transformed into an Indian fairytale world with towers of food, blankets of florals, and a crowd of 14,000. To recount the opulence would prove an impossible task—much like it is to tally up all the carats worn by the Ambani family over the past few days, as the celebrations culminated with the couple’s wedding ceremony.
Given the family’s much-documented love affair with jewelry, it was not surprising that, once again, they pulled a collection of jewels from the family vault that bordered on the unfathomable. From mother of the groom Nita Ambani’s 100-carat yellow diamonds to Radhika’s emerald-laden looks, the gems on show were unlike anything seen before.
Below, a roundup of the jewelry worn by the Ambanis over the weekend.
The Sindoor Daan and Mangalsutra Ceremony: Radhika Wears Family Heirlooms
Of the jewelry she wore to her wedding ceremony, Radhika told Vogue, “I turned to family heirlooms for my ‘something old.’ I wore the same necklace my sister and aunts wore at their weddings, and I truly believe it gave me a special strength and blessing as I walked down the aisle. It was actually a piece that my dad had surprised my mom with on a holiday to celebrate their anniversary." This family heirloom features of syndicate polki or uncut diamonds, Zambian emeralds, and a center stone of emerald-cut emeralds and emerald drops.
“I layered this with a new necklace we designed for this occasion,” she continues. This piece was designed by Mumbai-based jeweler Nisha Mehta and features five long strands of diamonds with a hulking emerald pendant suspended from several emeralds and diamonds.
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The Sindoor Daan and Mangalsutra Ceremony: Anant Wears a Hulking Emerald
For the main wedding ceremony, Anant wore his most show-stopping pieces. The most eye-catching was a 720-carat emerald brooch designed by Heeramaneck & Son jewelers in collaboration with Cartier—the piece features a panther perched on the hulking stone. Anant accessorized with more emeralds on his coat’s buttons, a swag of emeralds and pearls on his necklace, and a diamond aigrette brooch in his turban headpiece.
The Pooja: Kim Kardashian and Isha Ambani’s Jewels
Throughout the weekend’s three-day celebration, Kim Kardashian wore exclusively Lorraine Schwartz jewelry. This pearl and diamond necklace contains 170 carats of diamonds, including the pear-shaped drops. Her earrings feature 62 carats of pearl and diamond briolettes, her bindi headpiece contains an 8-carat pear-shaped drop, and her nose shines with an array of cushion old cut diamonds totaling 70 carats.
Isha, the groom’s sister, wears a necklace for which it reportedly took three years simply to gather all the stones required: a blue sapphire (apparently, the night marked her first time wearing a blue sapphire), jade, emerald, diamonds, fire opal, coral, pearls and more. There are nine gemstones in total; in Hindi, "Navratna" translates to "nine gems" to represent the nine planets. On her ears are mismatched emerald and diamond earrings.
The Sindoor Daan and Mangalsutra Ceremony: Nita Ambani Drips in Emeralds
After wearing emeralds the size of “popsicles” for the pre-wedding celebrations, Nita decked herself once again in the auspicious emerald stone for her son’s ceremony. A collection of sizable emeralds in pear, over, brilliant, and round cuts adorned her necklaces, bindi-pieces, nose-ring, earrings, rings, and bracelets.
The Pooja: Radhika Wears a Pearl and Emerald Jewelry Suite
For what Radhika referred to as her “favorite outfit of the whole wedding: a ghagra painted by Jayshree Burman,” she wore a pearl and emerald chandelier earring and necklace set.
The Sangeet: Radhika Wears a Pear-Shaped Opal Necklace With Diamond Earrings
For her sangeet look, Radhika wore an opal and diamond necklace, which she also wore to her pre-wedding festivities in Cannes earlier this May. It’s a necklace of personal significance to Radhika, as the opal is her birthstone. She also wore diamond earrings: the birthstone of her now-husband, Anant Ambani.
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The Dance of the Sangeet: Radhika Wears Her Mother-in-Law’s Ruby and Diamond Set
During the bride and groom’s dance performance at the sangeet, Radhika wore a set belonging to her mother-in-law, Nita Ambani, who had previously been photographed in the exquisite pieces. Crafted with dozens of rubies in a deep purple hue and diamonds, the jewelry suite includes chandelier earrings, two cuffs, and neckpiece, and a headpiece (which Radhika chose not to wear for her dance).
The Sangeet After-Party: Radhika Wears a Diamond Choker and Earcuffs
Wearing a modern look by Manish Malhotra that nodded to traditional sarees for the sangeet after-party, Radhika kept the jewelry (relatively!) simple. She wore a white diamond choker necklace, a twin pair of ear cuffs, and a bracelet. “It featured a corset that added a modern twist,” Radhika explains of her dress. “Although it was quite heavy, it was worth every moment.”
The Baraat: Anant Wears an Elephant Brooch and Sarpech in His Turban
Throughout the wedding festivities, Anant has festooned his groom’s looks with stone-encrusted brooches in animal shapes. For his baraat, he chose an elephant brooch crafted with brilliant and pear-shaped solitaire diamonds. In his sarpech (or aigrette) atop his turban, a diamond-laden feather brooch contained two sizable solitaires.
The Baraat: Nita Wears a 100-carat Yellow Diamond Necklace and Floating Solitaire Diamonds in Her Hair
Nita’s jewelry looks for her son’s baraat are some of her most decadent yet. Her necklace features two yellow diamonds (one of which was 100 carats) and a floating pear-shaped white diamond. The five-strand necklace was crafted by Kantilal Chhotalal and took 1,000 hours to create. She paired this with yellow diamond Nizami earrings and a yellow pear diamond tikka. In her hair, she pinned eight 5-carat solitaire diamonds.
The Reception: Radhika Wears Yellow Diamonds
For this look, Radhika explains, “My outfit intertwined East and West with a gold filigree corset from Dolce & Gabbana paired with a constructed saree from Anamika Khanna.” Jewlery-wise, she wore a cascading diamond necklace, earrings, and matching bangles.
