Sudha Reddy’s $15M Necklace at Met Gala Is Stunning

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Sudha Reddy walked into the 2026 Met Gala wearing $15 million around her neck — and it was every bit as extraordinary as that sounds.

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The Indian billionaire philanthropist and businesswoman, 47, arrived at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Monday, May 4 in a look that stopped the red carpet cold. The centerpiece wasn’t just the jaw-dropping custom Manish Malhotra gown she wore — it was the necklace from her personal collection, featuring the \”Queen of Merelani,\” a 550-carat deep violet-blue tanzanite pendant sourced from Tanzania’s Merelani Hills, the only place in the world where the stone exists.

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Stylist Mariel Haenn told People that the piece features a Victorian-finished chain of large triangular and pear-shaped rose-cut diamonds set in delicate floral clusters, with the massive tanzanite suspended at the center. Reddy rounded out her jewelry suite with a 23-carat yellow diamond ring and a 30-carat rose-cut polki diamond ring — and, per People, a 40-carat Asscher-cut Colombian emerald with a diamond halo in 18k yellow gold.

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The total estimated value? Over $15 million. It’s one of the most expensive pieces of jewelry seen at the Met Gala in recent memory.

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The Gown Behind the Jewels

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The necklace didn’t exist in a vacuum. Reddy’s custom Malhotra couture — officially titled \”The Tree of Life\” — was its own staggering achievement. The deep royal blue velvet corseted gown was blanketed in antique gold zari embroidery, with a sweeping theatrical train and a diaphanous hand-embroidered tulle cape. Malhotra’s atelier built the look over 3,459 hours using more than 90 artisans, working across several Indian embroidery techniques: zardozi, marodi, resham, and metalwork, all rooted in Kalamkari — one of India’s oldest textile traditions, with a history stretching back roughly 3,000 years.

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The train was dense with meaning. Gold vines, flowers, and tree branches built toward the central Tree of Life motif, while regional symbols were woven throughout — the Palapitta (Indian Roller bird), the Jammi Chettu, Tangedu, Kalpavriksha, and representations of Surya and Chandra. Peacock motifs appeared across the back. The shoulders carried the heaviest sculptural detail, with brass, copper, and silver elements worked into the upper back.

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The violet-blue of the tanzanite wasn’t accidental. It was chosen deliberately to echo the midnight blue of the gown — a cohesion that made the entire look feel like one unified, museum-worthy statement.

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\”Fashion, for me, has always been about the emotion behind the image,\” Malhotra said. \”With ‘The Tree of Life,’ we wanted to create something that carries memory and the soul of the craft.\”

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Why Tanzanite — and Why It Means Something

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Here’s where it gets interesting. Reddy’s December birthday makes tanzanite one of her birthstones, so the choice was personal from the start. But the stone itself carries a deeper lore. According to Fire Mountain Gems, tanzanite is believed to facilitate higher consciousness and stimulate intuition and perception. It’s also considered a calming stone — useful, perhaps, for one of the most high-pressure red carpets on the planet.

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There’s another layer: because tanzanite requires extreme heat to reach its full color potential, it’s long been associated with helping wearers reach their own full potential and access new sides of themselves. For a night themed around fashion as art and self-expression, that symbolism lands.

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And then there’s the visual magic. Tanzanite is pleochroic — it appears to shift color depending on the angle of the light, moving between blue, purple, and deep violet. On a red carpet lit from every direction, that stone would have been alive all night.

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A Met Gala Record Built on Indian Craftsmanship

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This was Reddy’s third Met Gala appearance, and each one has been a deliberate statement. She made her debut in 2021 in a star-spangled gold gown by Falguni Shane Peacock. In 2024, she returned in a Tarun Tahiliani creation paired with her “Amore Eterno” necklace — a piece featuring more than 180 carats of diamonds, including a 25-carat heart-shaped stone and three additional 20-carat heart-shaped diamonds.

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The 2026 look raised the stakes considerably. Reddy, who is based in Hyderabad and serves as a director at Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Limited, has used every Met Gala appearance as a platform for Indian designers and artisans — and this year, she was explicit about why.

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\”Hyderabad is my foundation, and this ensemble is a translation of that cultural identity into a language that is both global and deeply personal,\” she said in a statement. \”Indian craftsmanship isn’t a legacy confined to history but a living, breathing art form. It was vital to demonstrate that these ancient techniques possess the structural integrity and aesthetic power to lead the global fashion dialogue.\”

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Haenn echoed that in her own statement: \”By including techniques that date back over 3,000 years, they have created a breathtaking, multi-dimensional ensemble that speaks to both cultural legacy and contemporary grandeur. The look is a masterful tribute to India’s creative soul.\”

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The 2026 Met Gala, themed \”Costume Art\” and curated by Andrew Bolton, was co-chaired by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Nicole Kidman, Venus Williams, and Anna Wintour, with Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos serving as honorary chairs.

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Somewhere in that crowd, a 550-carat tanzanite was catching the light and changing colors all night long.

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“category”: “Style