Neil Lane Talks Collaborating with Angelina Jolie for Suleika Jaouad's 2024 Oscars Jewelry (Exclusive)

Suleika Jaouad Batiste got the true celebrity treatment for the 2024 Academy Awards.

Not only did the author, activist and wife of musician Jon Batiste wear a dress created by Angelina Jolie — the first to come out of her atelier — but she wore a collection of gorgeous jewels from celebrity jewelry designer Neil Lane.

Even better? Jolie came into Lane’s showroom to work with the jewelry designer herself in crafting Suleika’s Oscars bling.

“Angelina has a beautiful exquisite style and grace, and she knew what she wanted,” he tells PEOPLE of working with the actress. “She wanted to use vintage diamond and gold jewelry because it has such a rich warm color and it fit in with her mission of repurposing and sustainability.”

Suleika’s jewels included two necklaces, earrings and a ring. Lane tells PEOPLE one of the necklaces was handmade in France around 1875 and is set with antique rose-cut and old mine-cut diamonds. The second necklace was made in America around 1890 and is set with European cut diamonds in a hand-carved gold floral motif.

The gorgeous earrings that Suleika wore are late 19th century and set with old rose and European cut diamonds. As for the ring, Lane designed it himself. 

“The ring I designed using a vintage fancy-shaped colored diamond surrounded by rose-cut diamonds in a handmade rose gold setting,” he shares.

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When Jolie came to Lane’s showroom, the jewelry designer tells PEOPLE that the actress described the dress, so he showed her pieces to complement the look. Jolie, ever the visionary, started to “put ensembles together” he says. 

“She had a vision and she knew it,” Lane adds. “Of course, when I saw [Suleika’s look] at the Oscars, it was fabulous the way she had layered the necklaces, and it was a wonderful way to balance the abundance of the silk fabric. You could just see and feel Suleika’s beauty and joy. She was radiant.”

Suleika’s one-of-a-kind dress was created in collaboration with artist Chaz Guest, which she shared on the red carpet ahead of the awards show. 

“This dress was designed by the one and only Angelina Jolie,” Suleika told Canadian outlet CTV Etalk. “Her first time designing a dress for the red carpet and she invited the amazing artist Chaz Guest to paint a symphony on the back of it.”

The dress — an upcycled silk piece with a painting of Jon conducting the symphony painted on the back — was a beautiful nod to the documentary film American Symphony, which both Suleika and Jon star in and which was nominated that night. 

Suleika further praised Jolie on Instagram for dressing her, thanking the actress for making her feel so comfortable and glamorous after more than two years of treatment for her leukemia returning in 2021.

“After being in treatment for the last two years, I have a real love-hate relationship with clothes. But Angelina made me feel so beautiful and so seen that my eyes kept welling up during our fitting,” she wrote. 

“To have the story of American Symphony emblazoned on the literal fabric of my gown feels like a map of where we’ve been and how far we’ve come. It’s an embodiment of the love and the creative forces that have seen us through."