Sita Devi Maharani of Baroda (1917-1989) had a passion for natural pearls, emeralds, rubies and diamonds. Her many commissions at Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels show her love for spectacular jewellery. After her wedding to the Maharaja Pratapsingh Gaekwar of Baroda, she received jewels from the Baroda treasury to add to her collection. These gemstones and jewels dated back to the Mughal era. It included a magnificent seven-strand natural pearl necklace and a superb three-row diamond necklace that suspended the Star of the South diamond of 128.80 carats and the English Dresden of 78.53 carats.
Her strong personality was only matched by a poised elegance and her very impressive collection of jewels contributed to her glamorous lifestyle. Legend has it that she would come to Paris and stay at the famous Ritz Hôtel, right on Place Vendôme, and that she would be seen crossing the square to go to Van Cleef & Arpels, followed by some of her aids, carrying bags of gems to be remounted by the French house.
During the 1950s, she developed a reputation for living an extravagant lifestyle in Paris. The Maharani had many of her traditional Indian jewels reset to fit the latest Western trends, most of which was handled by the workshops of Van Cleef & Arpels.
It is interesting to note that lot 316 was designed by Verger Frères, a firm that used to work with Parisian Maisons such as Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron or Cartier amongst others. These bracelets, along with 46 other pieces from her collection, were first sold by the Crédit Municipal de Monaco on 16 November 1974.