Why natural diamonds still rule the red carpet

The red carpet has a way of turning the biggest night owl into an early-morning archivist. If you’ve spent the last few hours refreshing your Oscars feed, it becomes a blur of couture trains, immaculate updos, and jewellery close-ups zoomed in to forensic levels. Awards season runs on borrowed gowns and fleeting beauty trends, but amid the churn, there is one element that rarely changes: natural diamonds.

Last night at the Oscars, there were plenty of natural diamonds for us to admire. From Kylie Jenner in roughly 200 carats of diamonds by Lorraine Schwartz to Anne Hathaway’s Bvlgari necklace centred on an 8-carat pear-cut vivid yellow stone and with a supporting cast of 35 carats of diamonds, if the votes had to be counted, natural diamonds would be the biggest winners of the night.

Some diamonds come with footnotes

In part, it’s because diamonds come with their own history. Take the Tiffany diamond. The 128.54-carat fancy yellow stone has appeared in public just four times in more than a century. It debuted at the Tiffany Ball in 1957. In 1961, Audrey Hepburn wore it for the press tour of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, set into Jean Schlumberger’s Ribbon Rosette necklace. Decades later, Lady Gaga brought it to the 2019 Oscars. In 2021, Beyoncé wore it for Tiffany’s ‘About Love’ campaign. It’s a stone that signifies your cultural value without you having to say anything.

Last night at the Oscars, singer Troye Sivan wore a diamond-pave Rose brooch from Boucheron’s private collection that was first created in 1956.

Some diamonds carry the weight of royal provenance. At the 2022 Met Gala, Emma Chamberlain wore an archival Cartier choker that once formed part of the Patiala necklace, originally commissioned in 1928 by the Maharaja of Patiala. Three years later, in 2025, Diljit Dosanjh referenced Punjab’s royal past with a custom 250-carat necklace inspired by the legendary necklace of Patiala, another reminder that these stones often come with lineage attached. The moment sparked global debate and underscored that certain jewels sit closer to artefact than accessory.

Others lean into family legacy. At the same event, Isha Ambani wore an extensive suite of natural diamonds from Nita Ambani’s private collection. The centrepiece referenced the historic Toussaint necklace, originally designed in 1931 to showcase the legendary Queen of Holland diamond, and the look carried roughly 481 carats in total.

More recently, Margot Robbie had the desi internet up in arms when she wore Noor Jahan’s, and later Elizabeth Taylor’s, famous Taj Mahal diamond pendant for the premiere of Wuthering Heights. The heart-shaped stone comes from the Mughal court and is inscribed with the words “Love is Everlasting”, a reminder that only a few jewels carry such a rich backstory.

But the red carpet is not all history and heritage; there is also fun to be had with diamonds, as the 2026 Oscars red carpet proved. The easiest game to play? How many carats is your gemstone. Teyana Taylor was a key challenger with her stacked sparkle: two diamond rings, an 18-carat necklace, and 12-carat oval drops. At the Vanity Fair Oscar Party, Isha Ambani set a new rule of thumb (literally) for red carpet dressing, sliding a chunky diamond by Lorraine Schwartz onto her thumb. And Rose Byrne went even bigger with a 22.58-carat yellow-brown pear-shaped desert diamond that dangled off a sculptural torque necklace.

Scroll through red carpet photos over the years, and a pattern appears. The dresses change constantly, but the diamonds hardly do. Rivière necklaces, statement solitaires, chandelier earrings—these styles have outlasted every fashion swing.

That staying power explains why natural diamonds still dominate the red carpet. Premieres and galas operate under their own rules, where rarity and scale carry real weight. On a red carpet built around spectacle and memory, a diamond is always in season.