Elizabeth Taylor certainly knew a thing or two about collecting, whether it was diamonds—or men. At today’s prices, adjusted for inflation, there is no way she could have bankrolled all that jewelry, couture clothing and decorative art, including a few Impressionist paintings, based on her salary as a major motion picture star. Enter actor Richard Burton, who played a starring role in Taylor’s life, with his bottomless bank account to satisfy her obsession with bling. This month, Christie’s auction house pays tribute Taylor with a massive exhibition, gearing up to sell off most of her earthly possessions (some 2,000 items including furniture, decorative arts, handbags and the baubles) in a series of auctions beginning December 13.
I was fortunate enough to have been invited to take a private tour of the exhibit (tickets are on sale for the exhibit, right up to the sale), which takes up two floors at Christie’s Rockefeller Center location. Back in the day, as we say, this was the era when movie stars were really movie stars—dressing and behaving like the larger-than-life personas they were portraying on film. Cleopatra, anyone?
From the specially designed display cases (which went on tour with the jewelry to key Christie’s markets) for her priceless collection of 269 pieces of jaw-dropping jewelry to the endless runway of mannequins wearing Taylor’s couture fashions, this auction preview is like no other. For a rare moment, you, the viewer, are invited into the world of Elizabeth Taylor—a world of seduction and fantasy. Alongside her Valentino and Dior evening gowns is the famous black opera cape, plus dozens of other unique couture creations, like a trio of intensely sequined and patterned bomber jackets, akin to what Michael Jackson loved wearing himself. But it’s the sheer size, or carat weight, of some of her made-to-order jewels that make you wonder if her ego got in the way of collecting, or was she really just into jewelry, or, getting her way with Richard.
When it came to jewelry, undeniably, she had an eye for size, quality and uniqueness. Landmark jewelers like Van Cleef, Cartier, Boucheron, JAR, Tiffany and Bulgari all feature prominently in her collection. From the 33.19 carat “Elizabeth Taylor” diamond (also referred to as the Krup diamond), which was given to her by Richard Burton in 1968 and which she wore on a daily basis, to the “La Peregrina” necklace (a sumptuous concoction of diamonds, rubies and one of the world’s oldest and largest pearls—equivalent to 50 carats), this was a woman on a mission to get the goods from Richard Burton.
