When Diamonds Defined the Year: Six Moments That Sparkled in 2025
2025 was a year where heritage stepped into the spotlight and global ulture rediscovered the allure of natural diamonds. Here are six moments that captured the spotlight and proved that legacy still leads the way.
Diamonds are eternal, but some years lead to more groundbreaking moments than others—and 2025 will go down in history as one of the most exciting years for natural diamonds. From museum corridors to Met Gala red carpets, from royal recreations to record-breaking auctions, diamonds topped the headlines of some of the most spectacular news stories. Looking back on the year, it’s clear that real diamonds were at the center of a cultural revolution, heralding a change in the global order by shifting the world’s perceptions towards Indian craftsmanship and heritage.
Here are the six defining moments of 2025, with natural diamonds in the lead role in each.
1. King Khan Conquers the Met
When Shah Rukh Khan stepped out on the red carpet on the first Monday of May in 2025 for his Met Gala debut, it wasn’t just another celebrity appearance—it demonstrated his stardom on a global stage and the world stopped to pay attention. For this momentous debut for the theme “Tailored for You,” Khan wore an all black ensemble by Sabyasachi Mukherjee, inspired by the legacy of Black dandyism. The look was cinematic and regal, and perfectly offset the star of the look: layers and layers of talismanic chains studded with natural diamonds stacked across Khan’s chiselled open torso.
The jewellery, also by Mukherjee, invokes the iconic images of Indian maharajas draped in elaborate jewellery, for whom these pieces served as objects of power and authority. And Khan, too, carried the custom crystal-studded pendant shaped as the letter ‘K,’ a diamond star brooch at the lapel, gemstone-studded rings on his fingers, and a Bengal Tiger Head Cane, crafted in 18k gold and embellished with tourmalines, sapphires, old mine-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds, with the easy charm and grace of royalty.
For a celebrity as big as Shah Rukh—who is perhaps the greatest superstar in the world—to reference the long lineage of Indian natural diamond artistry prominently on a platform that celebrates the world’s greatest fashion marked a permanent shift in the position of Indian jewellery craftsmanship.
2. Priyanka’s 241-Carat Power Move
If anyone knows how to command a room, it’s Priyanka Chopra Jonas. But her appearance at the Met Gala wearing a 241-carat emerald-and-diamond necklace by Bulgari inspired awe and wonder.
Chopra wore a sculptural polka-dotted Balmain gown that merged the sharp lines of traditional menswear with sleek, feminine glamour. But the real drama came from the jewellery. Her look centered on Bvlgari’s Magnus Emerald Necklace from the Polychroma collection, anchored by a whopping 241.06-carat emerald and elevated by a striking halo of natural diamonds. The diamonds framed the green stone, giving the necklace its architectural, mid-century modern elegance. Chopra paired the piece with classic Bvlgari diamond solitaire earrings and a statement emerald ring. By her side, her husband Nick Jonas wore two diamond-studded brooches on his cummerbund.
Despite its size, Chopra wore the necklace with oomph, like the seasoned star she is. This look was pure red carpet opulence—a moment of high-octane drama. It also proved that while the debate between minimalism and maximalism may rage on, natural diamonds and exquisitely crafted jewellery still rule every era.
3. When Love Met Luxury
Engagement rings have long captured the world’s curiosity. But in 2025, the ring football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo proposed to Georgina Rodríguez which was so spectacular that it broke the internet. The moment images of her dazzling 35-carat natural diamond appeared, there might’ve been few who could avoid zooming and speculating about its size and design. But as with every engagement ring before this, it too holds the emotion we all love and recognize: of two people saying forever with a natural diamond ring, the most eternally enduring symbol of love.
The ring itself features a classic three-stone composition with a striking, elongated centre oval diamond flanked by matching oval side stones (each estimated at 1 carat) set into platinum. It will definitely go down in history books as one of the most spectacular engagement rings in the world, and as a legendary natural diamond, a title held by the likes of the 33.19-carat Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, formerly known as the Krupp Diamond, gifted to the actress by her husband Richard Burton in 1968. Despite all the records Ronaldo has broken on the field, this one might be his most dazzling one yet.
4. The Louvre Diamond Heist
The year 2025 delivered a plot that felt straight out of a movie: the theft of $20 million worth of natural diamond jewellery from the Louvre Museum in Paris. The world’s most guarded museum suddenly found itself at the centre of global intrigue.
The brazen theft targeted France’s priceless crown jewels. Using power tools, the thieves broke into the museum in broad daylight and escaped on scooters with eight extremely valuable items of jewellery studded with thousands of real diamonds and gemstones. The loot included a tiara and brooch belonging to Empress Eugénie, wife of Napoleon III, and other necklaces, earrings, and brooches which once belonged to French royalty or imperial rulers from the 19th century.
These diamonds weren’t part of a public exhibition; they were held in a private collection. A filmy heist of this sort just goes to show that even in our hyper-surveilled world, natural diamonds still have the power to inspire risk, obsession, and desire.
5. The Auction Heard Around the World
In early December at Sotheby’s in Abu Dhabi, the room fell into an almost reverent hush as The Desert Rose, a pear-shaped, 31.68-carat, VVS1-clarity unmounted diamond in the most distinctive pink-orange hue, was unveiled. In the room, the atmosphere felt electric, as if everyone present understood they were standing in the presence of something ethereal.
Pink diamonds are among the rarest geological phenomena on earth, their colour emerging not from impurities but from atomic-level pressure deep within the earth’s mantle. No one knows exactly why they are pink, making each one a geological miracle. Experts describe The Desert Rose as a “sunset-hued” fusion of pink and orange, and its size and colour put it in a singular category—it is the largest Fancy Vivid orangy-pink diamond ever reported by the GIA. Its auction in Beyond the World’s Rarest Diamonds, an exclusive exhibition of colored diamonds, was equally record-breaking: at $8.8 million, the sale shattered pre-auction expectations and set a new benchmark for natural diamonds of this colour grade. In 2025, The Desert Rose underscored a larger truth: collectors are chasing singularity and geological marvels that are visually and narratively unique. The price is a testament to the enduring reverence the world still holds for nature’s rarest creations.
6. Heritage Came Home
One of the most defining threads of the past year was Indian icons proudly declaring their roots, wearing natural diamond pieces dripping with heritage, artistry, and craftsmanship.
Nita Ambani’s appearance with a necklace that recreated the historic Indore Pears, once belonging to the Holkar royal family, blended a grand royal past and contemporary Indian sophistication. The pearls and diamonds shimmered in their characteristic symmetry—a bold statement by one of the world’s greatest patrons of high jewellery.
Isha Ambani’s recreation of the iconic “Ocean’s 8” jewellery look was a fashion homage, reimagined with Indian artisanship and storytelling. In her version, the jewels felt more grounded and rooted in cultural lineage.
And then there was Diljit Dosanjh, whose tribute to the Maharaja of Patiala was perhaps the most spirited celebration of Indian opulence. Wearing jewellery inspired by the legendary Patiala Necklace—a piece that once represented the pinnacle of Indian craftsmanship—he carried its history with pride. In one dazzling statement, the Punjabi pop icon intertwined notions of identity, masculinity, and culture.
The Year Belonged to Legacy
Together, these moments formed a mosaic of the world’s relationship with natural diamonds. From New York to Paris to Mumbai, diamonds found themselves at the centre of 2025’s biggest cultural moments. While the world keeps changing, the stories that matter most still spotlight what is timeless and enduring. 2025 made one thing clear: history glitters best in natural diamonds.
