- Kim Kardashian attended the LACMA Film + Art Gala on Saturday.
- She wore a diamond-studded cross necklace that once belonged to Princess Diana.
- Kardashian bought the necklace at an auction for nearly $200,000 in 2023.
Kim Kardashian debuted one of the rarest pieces from her jewelry collection over the weekend.
Kardashian, 44, attended the LACMA Art + Film Gala on Saturday, which supports the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
She wore a custom white dress designed by Gucci, which she paired with a cream coat train.
The gown hugged Kardashian’s figure and featured an exaggerated halter neckline that plunged to her waist — drawing the eye to the assortment of necklaces she wore.
The Attallah Cross pendant was the centerpiece of Kardashian’s look. The amethyst-covered cross, framed by diamonds, hung on the center of Kardashian’s chest from a strand of pearls.
Kardashian has owned the piece since 2023, but it’s best known as one of Princess Diana’s most iconic accessories.
Kim Kardashian bought the necklace from an auction
The jeweler Garrard made the 5.25-carat piece in the early 1900s, and Palestinian-British businessman Naim Attallah CBE bought it in the 1980s, as Sotheby’s shared in an Instagram post.
But Princess Diana was the only person to actually wear the necklace in public.
Attallah lent his friend Diana the necklace multiple times, most notably when she wore it to a charity event in 1987 with a purple Catherine Walker dress.
In January 2023, Sotheby’s auctioned the necklace, allowing Kardashian to buy it.
Kardashian paid £163,800 for the necklace, which was $197,453 at the time. It was estimated to sell for £80,000 to £120,000, so Kardashian went above the asking price to secure the piece.
Kardashian has a penchant for vintage fashion
The necklace isn’t the first famous archival piece Kardashian has bought at an auction.
In 2019, she bought Michael Jackson’s velvet jacket from Julien’s Auctions for $65,625 as a Christmas gift for a then-6-year-old North West. In 2017, she also purchased a watch that belonged to Jackie Kennedy at Christie’s Auction House for $379,500.
Martin Nolan, the executive director and cofounder of Julien’s Auctions, previously told Business Insider that auctions don’t own the pieces they sell. Instead, they serve as “custodians and guardians of the pieces” on behalf of sellers until they find new permanent homes, earning a commission once it sells.
Nolan said that caring for an item until it sells at auction can be stressful, as there is always the risk of it getting damaged.
“I’m the caretaker, and honestly, it’s a huge sigh of relief when something iconic is sold and it’s delivered safely to the new owner,” he said. “Yes, they’re insured, and the check can be written, and people are made whole, but it doesn’t replace what this item represents.”
In addition to her auction purchases, Kardashian is also known to borrow vintage pieces for red carpets. In October, she wore a 1998 Mugler corset to the Academy Museum Gala.
Her most notable vintage fashion moment was on the red carpet of the 2022 Met Gala when she wore Marilyn Monroe’s dress.
Fashion enthusiasts were concerned she damaged the vintage piece, but Kardashian and Ripley’s Believe It or Not, which owns the gown, denied those claims.
