A Diamond Royal Necklace Reference from Tiffany at the Oscars?

On Sunday, the stars were out in Hollywood for the Academy Awards, and one nominee wore a striking diamond necklace that appears to have been inspired by a jewel worn by an Oscar-winning princess.

Emily Blunt, nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work on the film Oppenheimer, arrived for the Academy Awards on Sunday wearing dazzling diamonds with an avant-garde dress from Schiaparelli. (I’ll leave commentary on the dress, which I think may have been inspired by the lines of vintage swimwear, to others.)

Blunt wore jewelry loaned by Tiffany & Co. for the event. She’s one of the jewelry firm’s “ambassadors” for this awards season, so she’s been wearing Tiffany designs for all of the major awards shows, including the BAFTAs, the SAG Awards, and the Golden Globes. This time around, she wore a pair of necklaces, stud earrings, and a ring, all set with a total of 110 carats of diamonds.

But though the entire jewelry look certainly sparkled mightily, it was the diamond festoon necklace she wore that really caught my attention. It immediately made me think of another actress linked to the Oscars…

…this actress, to be specific!

Here’s a closer look at Blunt’s festoon necklace from Tiffany’s. The jewel features three rows of diamonds, with alternating cushion-cut stones and baguettes. Rather than being gathered together at the edges of the festoon, the three slender rows of diamonds overlap as they move toward the necklace’s clasp.

And here’s the diamond festoon necklace owned by Grace Kelly, the Oscar-winning actress who became Princess of Monaco in 1956. Her version was made by Cartier. It features three rows of diamonds, with alternating round brilliants and baguettes, which are set vertically. The rows of her festoon are linked together with diamonds set in a triangular elements, merging together into a single row of diamonds.

The diamond necklace was one of Grace’s wedding presents from the National Council of Monaco. After their first commission, a suite of diamond and ruby jewelry, was rejected, the Council decided to purchase the necklace from Cartier and a diamond bracelet from Van Cleef & Arpels to offer to their new princess.

Here’s a photograph of Princess Grace wearing the festoon necklace for a gala dinner with President Charles de Gaulle at the Elysee Palace in Paris in the autumn of 1959. She’s also wearing another Cartier jewel, the Bains de Mer Tiara, in the picture.

The diamond festoon necklace remains a part of the Palais Princier collection in Monaco today. It’s been worn in recent years by Princess Grace’s daughter, Princess Caroline of Monaco.

And five years ago, Caroline’s daughter, Charlotte Casiraghi, borrowed the necklace to wear at a reception following her civil wedding ceremony.

Here’s one more look at the 1950s-era diamond festoon necklace made by Cartier and worn by Princess Grace.

And here’s another look at the 2020s-era diamond festoon necklace made by Tiffany and worn by Emily Blunt at the Oscars on Sunday. In my mind, the visual inspiration linking the two pieces is clear, but it’s interesting that Tiffany did not make any mention of Princess Grace or her jewelry in their press materials from the Oscars. They noted only that Blunt wore jewelry from Tiffany’s High Jewelry collection. What do you think? Was this Tiffany necklace inspired by the Cartier necklace? (And if so, will Cartier–who are notoriously protective of their designs–be happy about that?)

Before I wrap up this post, one more thing: Emily Blunt’s husband, John Krasinski of The Office and Jack Ryan, also wore a jeweled accessory from Tiffany at the Oscars. He wore a Tiffany Floral Arrows Brooch, a Jean Schlumberger design, pinned to the lapel of his jacket.

Tiffany notes that the brooch is made of “platinum and 18k gold with an unenhanced purple sapphire of over 5 carats and diamonds.” Love, love, love the trend of more and more men in Hollywood adding brooches to their jackets. They were all over the place on the Oscars red carpet. Could we dare hope one day to see some royal men following this trend, too?