The most expensive Met Gala jewelry ever worn
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- The 2024 Met Gala will take place on Monday.
- Stars always wear eye-catching outfits to the Met Gala, but they also choose luxury jewelry.
- Rihanna and Priyanka Chopra both wore over $25 million of jewelry at the 2023 event.
The 2024 Met Gala is almost here.
On Monday, celebrities, athletes, and high-profile billionaires will gather at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art for the most exclusive philanthropic — and fashionable — event of the year, hosted by Anna Wintour to benefit the museum's Costume Institute.
The gala always has a theme and accompanying dress code. For the 2024 gala, co-chairs Jennifer Lopez, Zendaya, Bad Bunny, and Chris Hemsworth organized the event around the "Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion" theme. It pairs with "The Garden of Time" dress code, which aims to blend the idyllicism of nature with a sense of dystopia, according to Vogue.
Attendees' outfits will be the focus of the red carpet, but the jewelry they wear to accessorize their looks will likely be eye-catching as well. In years past, many famous Met Gala guests have worn millions of dollars worth of jewelry on the red carpet.
Take a look back at some of the most expensive jewelry stars have ever worn to the gala.
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Kurková, a Czech model, attended the "Charles James: Beyond Fashion" Met Gala in a blue, floral Marchesa ball gown that had an asymmetrical, strapless neckline.
She paired the gown with a necklace and ring from Harry Winston. The 55-carat diamond necklace and Queen Diamond cocktail ring are worth over $1 million as a pair, according to Natural Diamonds.
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At the "Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garçons: Art of the In-Between"-themed event, Paltrow walked the Met Gala red carpet in a form-fitting Calvin Klein dress, Vogue reported. The pink gown was covered in sparkles and had a one-shoulder neckline, as well as a slit on one thigh.
She kept her accessories simple but luxurious, choosing two-tone diamond drop earrings from Harry Winston with diamond studs. Forbes reported in 2017 that the 16.31-carat drop earrings and complementary studs were worth over $2.1 million.
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Lady Gaga's red-carpet look for the "Camp: Notes on Fashion" Met Gala was the talk of the event. When she arrived, she unveiled four different outfits designed by Brandon Maxwell.
During her red-carpet performance, she wore and put on several pieces of jewelry from Tiffany & Co. Most notably, she wore the 15-carat Tiffany True Ring. The ring was worth $1.165 million, and all of the jewelry was worth over $1.75 million, E! reported in 2019.
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Lopez's Versace dress gave the impression she was wearing diamonds from head to toe. The entire form-fitting gown was covered in sparkly fabric, as was her short wig.
Naturally, she wore diamond jewelry with the look, choosing pieces from Harry Winston. As Harper's Bazaar reported, her $8.8 million worth of jewelry included a 129-carat diamond necklace with a purple sapphire, 120-carat diamond bracelets, and chandelier earrings.
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Hadid walked the "In America: A Lexicon of Fashion" Met Gala red carpet in a strapless white Prada dress with a corset bodice and black lining.
Black gloves added to the simple look, but Hadid really elevated her ensemble with a diamond Jacob & Co. necklace that featured a 54-carat center stone, as well as matching earrings.
According to Marie Claire, the 118-carat necklace is worth $12 million.
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Chamberlain's Louis Vuitton ensemble for the "In America: An Anthology of Fashion" Met Gala included a cropped, ruched top and a form-fitting white skirt.
She also wore a vintage headpiece and necklace from Cartier. The Times of India reported the necklace was sourced from the $30 million Patiala Necklace originally made for Maharaja Sir Bhupinder Singh in 1928 that went missing from his collection in 1948.
The Times of India reported that the center stone reappeared at a Sotheby's auction in 1982, and Cartier later restored another piece of the necklace found in a London antique store in 1998.
Cartier and Chamberlain received some backlash given the necklace's history, FOX5NY reported at the time.
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Chopra Jonas wore a black Valentino gown to the "Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty" Met Gala.
But the standout element of her outfit was the Bulgari Laguna Blue Diamond necklace she paired with the look. It featured a chain of diamonds and a whopping 11.16-carat blue diamond in the center, and it sold at auction for $25.19 million after the gala, according to Business Today.
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Anitta's black Marc Jacobs gown for the 2023 Met Gala was covered in ruching and asymmetrical detailing, showing off her black boots and white gloves.
On one wrist, the singer wore the Roger Dubuis Velvet Platinum 38MM watch, which Vogue reported in 2023 is worth over $1.4 million.
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Dua Lipa nailed the 2023 Met Gala dress code in a vintage Chanel wedding dress with a black trim.
She kept her accessories minimal, drawing the eye to the massive Tiffany & Co. pendant she wore on her neck. According to Harper's Bazaar, Lipa was the first person to ever wear the 100-carat Lucida Star Necklace, which is worth over $10 million.
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Rihanna wore a custom Valentino gown on the Met Gala red carpet with a matching jacket covered in oversized rosettes.
She accessorized the look with several necklaces and floral earrings, all of which were from Cartier.
Her jewels for the night were worth over $25 million, Page Six reported.