This Diamond Dealer Attended India’s Wedding of the Century

Rupesh Dihora was hoping to capture a selfie with Kim Kardashian at India’s most publicized celebrity wedding. Having secured an invitation to the lavish marriage of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant in July, the Mumbai-based diamond dealer asked the media personality to stop for a snap. 

But there was a problem. Kardashian wasn’t wearing the diamond nose piece that she had donned specially for the traditional Indian nuptials.  

“So she told me, ‘Wait, I won’t take the photo like this,’” the sales executive at Dihora Brothers recalls of the July event. “She told me she’ll be back…and take a photo again with me after [putting on] the diamond nose pin. She told me she[’d be] coming back in a couple of minutes, but [she] didn’t turn up.”

The diamantaire might have been forgotten by the busy socialite, but the story shows guests’ efforts to match their appearance to the situation.

Dihora was more successful getting pictures with Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) president Gianni Infantino and former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Both wore festive Indian clothing.  

Diamond dominance 

It was the proliferation of diamonds that caught the attention. Kardashian reportedly wore nearly 150 carats of natural diamonds in pieces designed by Lorraine Schwartz. “The jewelry she wore was very fascinating,” according to Dihora. “It was visible to everyone, and everybody [was] talking about her jewelry.” 

The dominance of precious stones at the wedding comes in the context of a strong period for India’s jewelry sector due to the growth of the middle class, the expansion of luxury retail to a broader range of cities, and consumers’ more modern style preferences. India has replaced China as the world’s second-largest market for natural-diamond jewelry, according to De Beers.

“[The] new generation, even if he is earning less, when it comes to the wedding ring, [he is] going to purchase [a] diamond,” Dihora says. “They have eyes on diamonds. If they don’t have [the] budget, they’ll go [for] a lab-grown diamond, but they…prefer diamonds. In India, the older generation [was]…interested…in gold jewelry…but now, [as the Indian economy grows,] people are focusing on diamonds.” 

Anant Ambani, son of Indian billionaire businessman Mukesh Ambani, was pictured wearing multiple brooches featuring diamonds and other precious gems. Dihora managed to grab a selfie while the groom was sporting a religiously themed piece encrusted with diamonds and emeralds. 

He also snapped a memento with Indian cricket player Hardik Pandya, who wore a tennis chain around his neck featuring polished diamonds weighing 0.30 carats each. 

Industry connections 

The Ambani family has links to the diamond industry. Mukesh Ambani’s son, Akash, married Shloka Mehta, daughter of Rosy Blue managing director Russell Mehta, in 2019. Dihora managed to obtain invitations to that wedding and the marriage of Akash’s twin sister Isha to businessman Anand Piramal in 2018. The six days of parties took place partly at the Jio World Centre, a few minutes’ walk from Mumbai’s Bharat Diamond Bourse (BDB). 

Dihora believes there has been a spike in consumer sales of the types of jewelry visible at the wedding. For those with more modest budgets, he sees consumer demand for star and melee in VVS and VS clarities, which are then put together to resemble a larger stone.  

The absence of Kardashian from Dihora’s camera roll didn’t dampen his memory of the event.

“I’m a wholesaler and manufacturer…so I when I [came to] the wedding, it was so magnetic that I came to know [where my] jewelry goes, where the diamond consumption [is],” Dihora continues. “Everybody was very fond of wearing diamond jewelry [at] this wedding.”

Main image: Rupesh Dihora with the groom, Anant Ambani. (Rupesh Dihora)