Culture & Style
By Hannah Militano. February 26, 2024
Burton & Bulgari: Elizabeth Taylor’s Enduring Impact on Diamond Jewelry Style
Hollywood’s most elite denizens continue to look to Elizabeth Taylor’s exceptional natural diamond jewelry style for inspiration.
Elizabeth Taylor photographed at home in 1957, in Beverly Hills, California. (Credit: CBS Photo Archive.)
To say Elizabeth Taylor was an icon of her time would be an understatement. Though the Hollywood legend passed away 13 years ago, her alluring mystique and natural diamond style influence lives on. Celebrities of today continue to hold a torch for Taylor’s lavish diamond obsession, from the likes of Kim Kardashian, Julianne Moore, Zendaya, Bella Hadid and more.
Taylor’s name has been saturating headlines yet again, with the release of several new books and documentaries peeling the onion to reveal the layers of her life. HBO is set to release Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes on August 3rd. Through intimate interviews, the film bridges the gap between her private life and public persona. Erotic Vagrancy by Roger Lewis looks into the relationship between the actress and her on-again-off-again love, actor Richard Burton, while Cocktails With George and Martha by Philip Gefter tells the behind-the-scenes story of Taylor’s 1966 film Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, which won the star the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Most notably, Kim Kardashian is set to executive produce and feature in an upcoming three-part documentary series about Taylor with the BBC, dubbed Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar. A bona fide superfan and a self-proclaimed “huge Elizabeth Taylor nerd,” Kardashian even conducted the last interview with Taylor in 2011 for Harper’s Bazaar before she died.
In her final interview, Taylor told Kardashian which of her most famous natural diamond rings was her favorite. “The Krupp is an extraordinary stone. It has such life and brilliance when light shines through it. Size does matter, but so does the size of the emotion behind it,” she said. Seeped in scandalous history, the 33.19-carat Krupp diamond was gifted to Taylor by her husband twice-over, Burton. In May of 1968, the Welsh actor went up against jeweler Harry Winston in a bidding war, winning the diamond for the price of $305,000 – which was the highest-paid price at auction for a diamond ring at the time.
I am a huge Elizabeth Taylor nerd.
– Kim Kardashian to Harper’s Bazaar
When Kardashian received her 15-carat a perfect D flawless type 2A cushion-cut Lorraine Schwartz diamond engagement ring from rapper Kanye West in 2013, the mogul replicated an iconic shot of Taylor holding a towel on her head, showing off her magnificent sparkler with the caption, “#MyIdol💍.”
In 2011, the SKIMS founder even purchased three jade and diamond Lorraine Schwartz bangles during the triumphant Elizabeth Taylor auction at Christie’s New York. A close friend of the diamond jewelry designer, Kardashian could have just purchased the pieces straight from Schwartz but instead, she spent well above the estimated price of $8,000, shelling out $64,900 for the authentic bracelets. “She loved those bangles for a long time,” Schwartz told Forbes. “She bought them because they’re Elizabeth’s.”
It’s safe to say, diamonds truly were Elizabeth Taylor’s best friend. With a collection overflowing with Van Cleef & Arpels, David Webb, Chopard, Boucheron, Garrard, Cartier, and Bulgari, the Oscar-winning actress had a knack for jaw-dropping diamond jewels, from the Krupp diamond to the Taylor-Burton diamond.
Known as one of Hollywood’s greatest love affairs, Burton and Taylor sparked their romance on the set of the 1963 epic film Cleopatra, and the rest was history. Natural diamond jewelry seemed to be the couple’s love language, with Burton often gifting Taylor the most exquisite jewels and gems.
The Mike Todd Diamond Tiara
Much like the other Elizabeth, Taylor attended the 1957 pre-Golden Globes party at the Coconut Grove with her third husband, movie producer Mike Todd. She, of course, donned large diamond chandelier earrings and a 19th century antique Victorian diamond tiara given to her by her husband, with her floral boatneck dress. That same year, she wore the “Mike Todd Diamond Tiara” at the Academy Awards and the Cannes Film Festival to promote her husband’s film, Around the World in 80 Days.
In her 2002 book, My Love Affair with Jewelry, the Hollywood icon wrote, “When Mike gave me this tiara, he said, ‘You’re my queen, and I think you should have a tiara.’ I wore it when we went to the Academy Awards. It was the most perfect night, because Mike’s film Around the World in 80 Days won for Best Picture.” She continued, “It wasn’t fashionable to wear tiaras then, but I wore it anyway because he was my king.” Sadly, Todd passed away almost exactly a year later in a plane crash in New Mexico.
According to Christie’s Auction House, the tiara was designed as nine old mine-cut diamond scrolls with larger old mine-cut diamond terminals, spaced by old mine-cut diamond latticework motifs, mounted in platinum and gold, circa 1880.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Heart-Shaped Diamond Pendant Necklace
Taylor wore a personal and sentimental piece of diamond jewelry while filming Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 1958. She was only on set for about two weeks before her husband, Mike Todd, tragically passed away. The producer died on March 22, 1958, in a plane crash in New Mexico.
He was on his way to receive the “Showman of the Year” award in New York City when the aircraft went down. Taylor had plans to fly with her husband but decided to stay home at the last minute due to a cold. Their daughter, Liza, was only seven months old. After his death, Taylor continued to wear her engagement ring, along with many other diamond jewels he had gifted her throughout their love affair.
Starring as Maggie Pollitt in the adaptation of Tennessee Williams play, Taylor went back to set after two weeks of mourning. In Elizabeth Taylor: The Lost Tapes, she says, “I was more or less like a robot until I became Maggie. When I was Maggie, I could talk, and I could function, until they said ‘cut.’ There was a trance-like thing about me after Mike’s death.”
Keeping a memento near and dear to her heart, Taylor wore a solitaire heart-shaped diamond pendant necklace around her neck throughout the film, given to her by her late husband. She was known to wear the necklace every day for years as a symbol of their undying love. She even wore the jewel on her wedding day to her next husband, Eddie Fisher.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Diamond Bulgari Serpenti Cuff
While filming Cleopatra, in the early days of their romace, Burton was rumored to have gifted Taylor a gold and diamond Serpenti snake watch from Italian jeweler Bulgari. Years later, the actor famously quipped, “I introduced Liz to beer, she introduced me to Bulgari.” Now one of the most iconic designs from the house, the Serpenti style is beloved by the likes of Zendaya, Naomi Watts, Bella Hadid, and more.
I introduced Liz to beer, she introduced me to Bulgari.
— Richard Burton
Hannah Waddingham at the 2022 Emmy Awards. (Getty Images)
Zendaya attends the “Dune” Screening in London, England, 2021. (Getty Images)
Bella Hadid at the 71st edition of the Cannes Film Festival in France, 2018. (Getty Images)
Chloë Sevigny at the 79th Venice International Film Festival on September 02, 2022 in Venice, Italy. (Getty Images)
The Krupp Diamond’s Fascinating Journey to the Becoming the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond
German actress Vera Krupp was the first known public owner of the diamond, given to her by her wealthy industrialist husband sometime between 1952 and 1956. After their divorce, the diamond ring was stolen right from her finger during a robbery in 1959.
In the following weeks, the FBI tracked down its whereabouts across the country. Finally, the ring was recovered in pieces in different states. Once returned, Krupp had the diamonds reset in their original platinum band by Harry Winston. After Vera died in 1967, the 33.19-carat Krupp diamond went up for auction at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York City.
On May 16th, 1968 after a bidding war with Harry Winston himself, actor Richard Burton purchased the diamond ring for the price of $307,000, the highest price paid at auction for a diamond ring at the time. Burton gifted it to Elizabeth Taylor as a surprise gift on their yacht Kalizma while it was docked on the River Thames near London.
Taylor was known to wear her magnificent jewelry collection in her personal life as well as both stage and screen performances. She wore plenty of her own diamond Bulgari baubles in the 1968 film, Boom!, where she starred alongside her husband Richard Burton. Wearing countless diamond brooches, bracelets and more, Taylor also wore the famed Krupp diamond.
Although graded by the Gemological Institute of America as D colorless and VS1 clarity, reports state that the Krupp Diamond was “potentially internally flawless”, meaning that just a slight recutting could further improve the impressive 33.19-carat Asscher-cut stone.
The diamond ring was among Taylor’s most treasured pieces. After she died in 2011, it was sold by Christie’s, who dubbed it the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, for $8.8 million.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Diamond and Sapphire Bulgari Necklace
Elizabeth Taylor received her diamond and sapphire Bulgari sautoir as a 40th birthday present from Richard Burton in 1972. She adorned the Art Deco-style necklace throughout her star-studded, weekend-long birthday party in Budapest, Hungary. Known for wearing the necklace on several occasions, Taylor also wore the prized piece for Burton’s 50th birthday party in 1975.
A sugarloaf cabochon sapphire of roughly 52.72 carats is perched within a pavé-set diamond octagonal detachable pendant, rimmed with calibré-cut sapphire trim and bullet-cut diamond accents. The pendant hangs from a pavé-set diamond geometric neck chain, but Taylor has also worn the pendant as a brooch.
Bulgari bought back eight of Taylor’s Bulgari jewels during the 2011 Christie’s auction. While they are rarely loaned to celebrities, Bulgari made an exception for actress Jessica Chastain at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
Chastain attended the 50th anniversary Cleopatra screening at the grand festival and paid homage to the stars of the film, Taylor and Burton. She teamed her white Versace gown with the diamond and sapphire sautoir necklace.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Diamond and Emerald Bulgari Necklace
In 2013, the Roman jewlery house hosted a celebration showcasing Taylor’s extensive Bulgari jewelry collection in Beverly Hills, with Julianne Moore wearing one of Taylor’s prized necklaces from the brand — a diamond and emerald necklace. Taylor previously wore the eye-catching bauble to receieve her Academy Award for her role in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1967.
With such an extensive and mind-boggling collection of natural diamond treasures, it’s safe to say that no one comes close to Taylor’s diamond style. In Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry, the star writes, “The importance of jewelry is emotional and psychological.” Continuing, “We are all temporary custodians of beauty.”
A diamond jewelry aficionado and taste-maker, celebrities have and will continue to take a page from the book of Elizabeth Taylor, looking to her most landmark diamond moments to secure their status as true shining stars of Hollywood.
