Elizabeth Taylor Bedazzled and Bigger then Life.

The Taj Mahal Diamond

The Taj Mahal Diamond, an Indian diamond and jade pendant necklace with a later ruby and gold chain designed by Cartier, was a gift from Richard Burton on the occasion of Elizabeth Taylor’s 40th birthday. This historic jewel soared above its pre-sale estimate of $300,000-500,000 to achieve $8,818,500 (£5,643,840 /€6,790,245) – a record price for any Indian jewel at auction.

A heart-shaped Taj Mahal Diamond, which came with a pre-action estimate of $300,000-$500,000, went to a representative of a Korean hotel conglomerate for $8.8 million. The original owner was believed to be Emperor Shah Jahan who built the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife, according to People magazine.







The Cartier Ruby Suite

- A suite of ruby and diamond jewelry by Cartier

- Gift from Mike Todd, August 1957

- Necklace estimate: $200,000 to $300,000

- Bracelet estimate: $150,000 to $200,000

- Earrings estimate: $80,000 to $120,000

















The BVLGARI Emerald Suite

- A suite of emerald and diamond jewelry by BVLGARI

- Gifts from Richard Burton, from 1962 to 1967

- Necklace estimate: $1 million to $1.5 million

- Pendant estimate: $500,000 to $700,000

- Ring estimate: $600,000 to $800,000

- Bracelet estimate: $300,000 to $500,000

- Earrings estimate: $150,000 to $200,000









La Pérégrina – The Legendary Pearl

- Features an early 16th century 203-grain pearl, once part of the crown jewels of Spain

- Now part of a Cartier-designed necklace with matched pearl and rubies

- The pearl was a gift from Burton, Jan. 23, 1969

- Estimate: $2 million to $3 million

A ruby diamond necklace known as "La Peregrina" shattered records as it went under the hammer for $11,842,500. Burton had purchased the necklace for $37,000 in 1969 as a Valentine's gift, the Associated Press reported. The previous record at Christie's New York, was $7,096,000 for the sale of the Baroda Pearls.

The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond

- 33.19 carats, D-color, potentially internally flawless

- Gift from husband Richard Burton, May 16, 1968

- Estimate: $2.5 million to $3.5 million

- This was the ring that Taylor wore every day. It was purchased at auction for $300,000 in 1968 as the Krupp Diamond

Another highlight of the event was Taylor's 33.19-carat diamond ring, also given to her by her two-time husband. It was bought by a private buyer from Asia for $8,181,500, according to a Christie's spokesperson, the AP reported.

Elizabeth Taylor dies at 79;

Elizabeth Taylor, star of stage and screen who married multiple times, became a successful businesswoman and helped to pioneer the fight against AIDS, dies of congestive heart failure.
Elizabeth Taylor, the glamorous queen of American movie stardom, whose achievements as an actress were often overshadowed by her rapturous looks and real-life dramas, has died. She was 79.

Hospitalized six weeks ago for congestive heart failure, Taylor died early Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with her four children at her side, publicist Sally Morrison said.
During a career that spanned six decades, the legendary beauty with lavender eyes won two Oscars and made more than 50 films, performing alongside such fabled leading men as Spencer Tracy, Montgomery Clift, Marlon Brando and Richard Burton, whom she married twice. She took her cues from a Who's Who of directors, including George Cukor, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, George Stevens, Vincente Minnelli and Mike Nichols.

Long after she faded from the screen, she remained a mesmerizing figure, blessed and cursed by the extraordinary celebrity that molded her life through its many phases: She was a child star who bloomed gracefully into an ingenue; a femme fatale on the screen and in life; a canny peddler of high-priced perfume; a pioneering activist in the fight against AIDS.

Some actresses, such as Katharine Hepburn and Ingrid Bergman, won more awards and critical plaudits, but none matched Taylor's hold on the collective imagination. In the public's mind, she was the dark goddess for whom playing Cleopatra as she did with such notoriety, required no great leap from reality.

Taylor, New York Times critic Vincent Canby once wrote, "has grown up in the full view of a voracious public for whom the triumphs and disasters of her personal life have automatically become extensions of her screen performances. She's different from the rest of us."

Her passions were legend. She loved to eat, which led to well-publicized battles with weight over the years. She loved men, dating many of the world's richest and most famous, including Frank Sinatra, Henry Kissinger and Malcolm Forbes, and married eight times, including the two visits to the altar with Burton.

She loved jewels, amassing huge and expensive baubles the way children collect toys.

"It would be very glamorous to be reincarnated as a big ring on Elizabeth Taylor's finger," Andy Warhol once mused about the woman who owned the 33-carat Krupp diamond ring — a gift from Burton that she wore daily. It broadcast to the world that she was a lady with an enormous lust for life.

But Taylor attracted misfortune too. According to one chronicler, she suffered more than 70 illnesses, injuries and accidents requiring hospitalization, including an appendectomy, an emergency tracheotomy, a punctured esophagus, a hysterectomy, dysentery, an ulcerated eye, smashed spinal discs, phlebitis, skin cancer and hip replacements. In 1997, she had a benign brain tumor removed. By her own count, she nearly died four times.

In 2004 she disclosed that she had congestive heart failure and crippling spinal problems that left her in constant pain. For much of her life she struggled with alcohol and prescription painkillers.

She was often described as the quintessential Tennessee Williams heroine, a characterization Taylor did not dispute.