The most expensive accessories at the Met Gala 2026: From $6 million watch to $15 million necklace

Dubai: The 2026 Met Gala's "Fashion Is Art" dress code brought out the boldest looks of the year, but it wasn't just the gowns doing the talking. This year, the accessories stepped up in a serious way.

From wristwear worth millions to jewels pulled straight from personal collections, here are the most jaw-dropping pieces that shut down the steps of the Met.

When it comes to watches, Jay-Z does not play around. The rapper turned up to the 2026 Met Gala wearing what is widely considered the most complicated wristwatch Patek Philippe has ever made: the Grandmaster Chime Ref. 6300G.

The double-faced white gold timepiece packs 20 complications into its case, including a grande sonnerie, minute repeater, and perpetual calendar. Very few of the black-dial versions were ever produced, and while it originally retailed for over $2.2 million, they are likely worth multiples of that today. Wristcheck valued the piece at $6 million, making it arguably the single most expensive item on the red carpet that evening.

He has worn the watch before, including at the 65th Grammy Awards in 2023, but on the Met steps beside Beyoncé in head-to-toe Olivier Rousteing, it hit differently.

If watches had a winner, jewellery belonged entirely to Sudha Reddy.

The centrepiece of her look was a necklace from her personal collection valued at more than $15 million, built around the "Queen of Merelani" — a rare 550-carat violet-blue tanzanite sourced from Tanzania's Merelani Hills. Trilliant-cut and round-shaped diamonds lined the neckline in floral clusters around it.

She paired it with a custom Manish Malhotra gown featuring a dramatic "tree of life" train, peacock detailing, and intricate floral embroidery drawn from Kalamkari, a 3,000-year-old Indian textile tradition. The gown reportedly took over 3,400 hours to complete with more than 90 artisans working on it.

For Sudha, though, the look was about more than spectacle. "Hyderabad is not just my origin; it is a language, a rhythm, a way of being," she wrote on Instagram ahead of the gala.

"Through this look, I aspired to translate that sensibility into a form that could exist effortlessly on a global stage while remaining deeply rooted in the South Indian imagination."

She described the ensemble as not about nostalgia but about evolution, adding: "For me, this is what costume art can be: not just adornment, but a living archive. A way of carrying heritage forward not as something fixed, but as something that continues to grow, transform, and speak."

She also wore a 23-carat yellow diamond ring and a 30-carat polki diamond ring alongside the necklace.

Worth noting: in 2024, she arrived at the Met with a $10 million diamond necklace from the same personal collection. She went bigger this year. Considerably.

The rest of the carpet was no slouch either. A few other standout pieces:

Dwayne Johnson wore the Jacob & Co. Billionaire III, a watch set with over 700 diamonds and a skeletonised tourbillon, valued at $3.3 million. He also added a Manish Malhotra High Jewellery diamond and emerald brooch.

Beyoncé wore hundreds of carats of Chopard diamonds and emeralds across her neck, wrists, and ears, completing a full head-to-toe bejewelled Olivier Rousteing look.

Lisa of BLACKPINK wore Bulgari High Jewellery pieces including a necklace with a 50-carat oval-cut cabochon sapphire, alongside a custom look featuring over 66,000 Swarovski crystals.

Serena Williams debuted Audemars Piguet's new Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar Openworked in titanium, one of the most technically complex pieces of the evening, priced at around $200,000.

Rami Malek quietly stole a moment with a rare 1992 platinum Cartier Crash, one of only around 10 known examples to have ever appeared at auction, with comparable pieces selling for over $275,000.

Jay-Z's watch is a piece he has worn at the most significant moments of his public life. Irina Shayk built her entire Alexander Wang look around vintage watches, wearing them as chokers, bracelets, and armbands. And Sudha Reddy turned a $15 million necklace into a cultural statement rooted in South Indian heritage.

The "Fashion Is Art" dress code gave everyone a reason to think more carefully about every element of their look, right down to the last carat. At this rate, the accessories at the Met Gala deserve their own red carpet.