Kim Kardashian buys famed pendant only ever worn by Princess Diana for almost $200K at auction
A pendant worn by, and said to be a favorite of, the late Princess Diana has a new famous owner: Kim Kardashian.
The piece — called the Attallah cross and consisting of square-cut amethysts, circular-cut diamond accents and flowery details — came at a hefty price. According to a press release from Sotheby's, the reality star spent $197,453 on the pendant at the fine arts company's auction Wednesday.
"It is understood that the cross was only ever worn by the Princess, and following her death, it was never seen in public again until now," the release states.
A representative for Kardashian beat out at least three other bidders for the necklace, Sotheby's said.
Diana famously wore the pendant, created in the 1920s by the jewelry company Garrard, to a charity gala for the human rights organization Birthright in October 1987.
According to a release, Diana's friend, businessman Naim Attallah, purchased the necklace in the 1980s and lent it to her multiple times.
"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," Kristian Spofforth, head of jewelry at Sotheby’s London, said in a statement before the sale of the necklace. "We are confident that this unique 1920s piece of jewelry by Garrard, with such an exceptional provenance and only ever worn by the Princess herself, will attract the attention of a wide variety of bidders, including royal and noble jewelry collectors, as well as fans of the Princess keen to share part of her history."
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Ramsay Attallah, the owner of the cross before Kardashian's purchase, recalled the significance the piece held for Diana.
"Princess Diana and my father were friends, and I remember that she often came to see him at the historic Garrard store on Regent Street, where his office was, and she would ask to borrow the pendant on several occasions," he said in a statement. "She really loved the piece."
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