Baroda Pearl Necklace

Today marks the 35th Anniversary of the Death of Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda, who passed away on this day in 1989! The legendary Baroda Pearl Necklace belonged to the Maharajas of Baroda for over a century before being broken up for the infamous Maharani Sita Devi, the ‘Indian Wallis Simpson’!

Baroda Pearl Necklace | Star of the South Diamond | Emerald Anklets

The daughter of the Maharaja of Pithapuram, Princess Sita Devi was married to Meka Rangaiah Appa Rao Bahadur, the Zamindar of Vuyyur in 1935, having one son before she met the Maharaja of Baroda at the Madras horse races in 1943. Baroda was among the largest and richest Indian Princely States, and keen to marry, lawyers recommended that the Hindu Princess Sita Devi convert to Islam to dissolve her marriage to the Zamindar under Indian law, following which she became the second wife of the Maharaja, leading to her moniker, the ‘Indian Wallis Simpson’. In the years before and immediately after Indian Independence in 1947, the Maharaja and Maharani travelled widely, acquiring a residence in Monaco, which spending massive sums of money from the Baroda treasury. Eventually, in 1951, the couple were forced by the Indian Government to go into exile in Europe due to their extravagance. The couple, who had one son, nicknamed ‘Princie’, divorced in 1956, but the Maharani continued to remain at the centre of European High Society, living between Paris and Monte Carlo and spending extravagantly which led her to secretly auction some jewels in the 70s. Following Princie’s suicide in 1985, Maharani Sita Devi passed away at the age of 71 in Paris.

But, there was a colourful lady, Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda, who threw all these taboos out of the window and led a glitzy life for nearly 40 years in the European principality of Monaco, the playground of world’s celebrities and idle rich.

In 1943, Maharaja Pratapsinh Gaekwad of Baroda attended Madras races and met a (albeit married) woman who made him lose all sense of proportion. The lady, the wife of the zamindar of Vayyur, reciprocated the adoration. But as yet Indian society was not willing to let a Maharaja live openly with another man’s wife. The ruler’s lawyers sat together and soon the lady had converted to Islam. Then she implored her zamindar husband to get converted to Islam, as she was anxious, that he should have the benefit of the excellence of her new religion. It is said that her husband did not even bother to react to this stage show. A week later, the lady had obtained divorce from her Hindu husband under Islamic canons. She was free. Scarcely had she obtained the divorce that she converted herself back to Hinduism by Arya Samaj rights. And then her lover, the Baroda Maharaja, married her despite having a highly respected Maharani, with four of his children, waiting for him in Baroda.

By 1946, after World War II had ended, the couple was free to go to Europe. As the famous principality of Monaco (French-controlled) had been spared the war ravages, they chose that city to buy a magnificent mansion and settle down there. Then cabin loads of the great treasures of Baroda state (the Maharaja was known in those days to be the eighth richest man in the world) were transferred to Monaco. As a Maharaja he had every right to take the valuables, wherever he wanted. Till today, we do not know the full extent of the loot of Baroda treasury by Maharani Sita Devi. The list was included the famous Pearl carpet, a seven-strand necklace of priceless pearls, and the famous three-strand diamond necklace with the famous Star of the South 128.80 carat diamond and the English Dresden of 78.53 carat as the pendant. In 2005 the value of these two diamonds were estimated at $736,000 per carat.

By now the western media began to call her the India’s Wallis Simpson. Wallis Simpson — the Duchess of Windsor — had also swapped husbands. Then in 1947 freedom dawned for India and with other princely states Baroda had to accede to the Indian Union. As the Government of India took over the treasury and tried to separate the state-owned treasures and personal jewels of the Gaekwad, they were shocked to find that literally nothing was left. They forced the Gaekwad to bring back a number of valuables, including the seven-strand pearl necklace — of which one strand had been snipped away. Soon the foolhardy Gaekwad provoked the government to depose him. But in the far-off Europe Maharani Sita Devi was not worried. She promptly transferred many of these jewels to her name.

However, it is doubted whether any of the Baroda treasures could have been rescued, for Sita Devi adored having her jewels reset. From the late 1940s to the ’60s, the New York and Paris branches of Van Cleef & Arpels remounted thousands of her old stones in new settings. In 1953, the famous New York jeweller Harry Winston bought from Sita Devi a pair of anklets featuring cabochon emeralds and huge rose-cut diamonds, which he fashioned into a necklace. Winston then sold this jewellery to the Duchess of Windsor who, in 1957, wore it to a New York ball which was attended by Sita Devi. While the other guests were gasping in wonder at the beauty and size of the diamond choker, Sita Devi was heard commenting loudly that they had also looked very nice on her feet. It was a bizarre meeting of the two Mrs Simpsons of the East and West, each feted by society but also widely disliked. Seething with humiliation, the Duchess returned the necklace to Winston.

According to jewellery historians ultimately Sita Devi’s glamour and riches faded. She and Pratapsinh separated, and their marriage was dissolved in 1956, the year in which she became a national of Monaco. In 1968 Pratapsinh died in exile in London, and Sita Devi spent her remaining years dodging tax officials of several countries, with only her son, Princie, for companionship. His life in her gilded cage ended dramatically one night in May 1985, when after his 40th birthday, he slit his throat with a knife and brought to a close aimless years of alcoholism, drug addiction and seedy sexual adventures. Soon after, Sita Devi herself died in Neuilly, an incapacitated and cantankerous old woman.

A spectacular extraordinary necklace originally composed of seven strands of perfectly matched and graduated natural pearls, this legendary Pearl Necklace originates from the famed collection of Maharaja Khande Rao Gaekwar of Baroda, who also acquired the Star of the South Diamond and English Dresden Diamond.

Throughout history, the natural pearl has always been prominent amongst the wealthy and powerful and at certain periods in time, was made available almost exclusively to Royalty. In India, the pearl was treasured most among all other gems and was used prolifically, adorning the magnificent royal dress of the Maharajas and woven into elaborate screens, decorated pillars and doorways. India’s desire for pearls was insatiable for centuries and the rich source for supplying this demand was located mainly near the coast of southern India. The Maharajas would become known for their lavish taste and ornate decorations, which would reach near mythical proportions. Their desire for vast quantities of pearls to adorn their crown jewels was limitless. Word of their boundless riches and luxurious taste spread quickly and certain princely families began to make headlines, most notably the Maharajas of Baroda.

The Baroda Pearls, each luminous strand radiated elegance, wealth and power, and would be the prized possession of Royal Gaekwars of later generations.

Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad III of Baroda, who reigned for almost 65 years, was a fairly simple man, he got into trouble for appearing unadorned at the Delhi Durbar of 1911, but wore the famed Baroda Pearl Necklace for a portrait taken around 1908.

According to the Reverend Edward St. Clair Weeden, an Englishman who visited Baroda in 1909, the pearls were worth fifty lakhs of rupees, equivalent to $500,000, making it at that time, the most expensive piece of jewelry owned by the Gaekwar of Baroda.

In 1939, Maharaja was succeeded by his grandson, Maharaja Pratap Singh Rao Gaekwad, who scandalously married Maharani Sītā Devī, the ‘Indian Wallis Simpson’ in 1943. A few years later, the Maharaja wore the famed seven-strand Baroda Pearl Necklace for his Birthday Durber in 1948.

Maharaja Pratap Singh Rao and Maharani Sītā Devī were forced by the Indian Government to go into exile in Europe in 1951 due to their extravagance, taking many jewels from the Baroda treasury to fund their lavish lifestyle. While the Star of the South Diamond remained in Baroda, at least three strands of the Baroda Pearl Necklace were created into a Necklace by Van Cleef & Arpels in 1958, and was worn by Maharani Sītā Devī up until she was forced to Auction her Jewels in 1974.

Sayaji Rao’s successor, his grandson Pratapsingh Rao (r. 1939-1947), was mainly recognized for his marriage to his second wife Sita Devi, a young beauty referred to as “The Indian Wallis Simpson,” and was known for her strong personality and her passion for jewels. She received jewelry from the Baroda Treasury, dating back to Mughal times, as well as the superb three-row diamond necklace that suspended the “Star of the South” and the “English Dresden.” She also was given countless Indian gems by Pratapsingh Rao, and with these, she would commission celebrated jewellers to create masterpieces.

While many of Sita Devi’s jewels were sold in later years–including a pair of superb natural pearl and diamond ear pendants, by Van Cleef & Arpels (Christie’s Geneva, May 17, 2000 for $304,292)– the rest of the seven-strand pearl necklace remained part of the Baroda Royal Treasury.

By the 2000s, the Baroda Royal Family had been fighting decades-long disputes over the massive wealth and property of the Royal Family, worth $4.3 billion, among which was the Star of the South Diamond and the Baroda Pearl Necklace, and in 2007, a two-strand natural pearl necklace, of sixty-eight graduated pearls, appeared at Auction at Christies in New York.

Christie’s is honored to present the magnificent and legendary natural pearl necklace, symbolic of a bygone era of Indian splendor-The Baroda Pearls. The necklace has been coveted throughout history, and its appearance at auction represents a monumental event for jewelry collectors and connoisseurs worldwide. Worn through the centuries and across generations by the Indian Maharajas of Baroda, this necklace has been documented endlessly as the epitome of elegance, extravagance and rarity, sentiments embodied by the powerful and endearing Gaekwars of Baroda.

Having amassed huge quantities of pearls from all over the Gulf region, the Indian Royal families were famed for the superlative natural pearls in their treasuries. The 7-strand Baroda pearl necklace was the masterpiece of all these collections. The 2-row necklace now comprising 68 of the finest & largest pearls of this superb necklace encapsulates everything the modern collector could expect from the
most important pearl necklace in the world

Christie’s is offering two remaining, graduated strands from the most famous and sought-after pearl necklace in history. Comprising each strand are the most perfect and largest pearls selected from the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh rows of the original seven-strand necklace. All sixty-eight radiating pearls, measuring from approximately 9.47 to 16.04 mm, are impeccably matched in color, luster, size and shape, and are joined by a stunning cushion-cut diamond clasp mounted by Cartier. Complementing this royal treasure are a pair of natural pearl and diamond ear pendants, a brooch, and a ring en suite. This supreme example of exceptional provenance, most likely never to occur again, offers collectors “the ideal pearls”, a belief first embraced by Indian Royalty centuries ago.

The entire Suite of Pearl Jewellery sold for USD 7,096,000, and its current location is unknown, as is the location of the remaining strands of the seven-strand Baroda Pearl Necklace, which may remain with the current Maharaja of Baroda.