The Enduring Influence of Elizabeth Taylor’s Legendary Diamond Collection
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 15 years ago, her alluring mystique and diamond style influence live on, as natural as they come.
Celebrities of today continue to hold a torch for Taylor’s lavish diamond obsession, from the likes of Margot Robbie, Kim Kardashian, Julianne Moore, Jessica Chastain, and more sporting her impressive baubles, à la Liz.
With such an extensive and mind-boggling collection of natural diamond treasures, it’s safe to say diamonds were truly Elizabeth Taylor’s best friend. In Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry, the star writes, “The importance of jewelry is emotional and psychological.” She continued, “We are all temporary custodians of beauty.”
Meet the Author
- Hannah Militano covers diamond jewelry trends, the fashion industry, pop culture, and celebrity news.
- She holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Fashion Institute of Technology.
- As a journalist, her work has been featured in publications such as Editorialist, Carine Roitfeld’s CR Fashion Book, L’Officiel USA, Grazia USA, Coveteur, and more.
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.
A diamond jewelry aficionado, tastemaker, and bona fide magpie, 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.
Friday marks what would have been the 94th birthday of the Cleopatra actress, who died in March 2011 at the age of 79. Ahead of her birthday, dive deep into the unrivaled influence of Elizabeth Taylor’s dazzling diamond jewelry collection.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Diamond Tiara from Mike Todd
Much like the other famous Elizabeth, the actress 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 aptly-named “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.”
When Mike gave me this tiara, he said, ‘You’re my queen, and I think you should have a tiara.’
– Elizabeth Taylor in My Love Affair with Jewelry
Sadly, Todd passed away almost exactly a year later on March 22, 1958, when his plane crashed 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 planned 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 for years, along with many other diamond jewels he had gifted her during their love affair.
In My Love Affair with Jewelry, she wrote, “Mike Todd and I only had thirteen months together, but I now see that Mike’s love was a legacy to me. Mike was amazing: so loving and so unbelievably larger than life.”
According to Christie’s Auction House, the tiara was designed with nine old mine-cut diamond scrolls with larger old mine-cut diamond terminals, spaced by even more old mine-cut diamond latticework motifs, mounted in platinum and gold, circa 1880.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Beloved Charm Bracelets
Taylor owned several charm bracelets imbued with deep personal significance. Featuring charms commemorating her life’s milestones and relationships, one included a heart-shaped charm inscribed with “Elysabeth, Alexandre, Love Fevrier 1972,” reflecting her affection for her children.
Other charms on her bracelets celebrated her career in film and personal moments, such as a director’s slate engraved with “The Taming of the Shrew,” a film she starred in alongside Richard Burton, and a locket containing photographs of her father. These bracelets were part of her extensive jewelry collection, which was auctioned by Christie’s in 2011, highlighting the sentimental value she placed on these pieces.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Girandole Chandelier Earrings
This summer, Kim Kardashian walked in the Balenciaga fashion show during Paris Fashion Week, wearing a priceless pair of diamond girandole earrings from Elizabeth Taylor’s personal jewelry collection. Beloved by Taylor, the dramatic chandelier earrings were a red carpet staple during her Hollywood heyday. They were gifted to her in 1957 by Mike Todd, the same year he presented her with her famous emerald-cut diamond engagement ring.
Their most recent model, Kardashian, even executive-produced a three-part documentary series about Taylor with the BBC, Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar, released in September 2024. A superfan and self-proclaimed “huge Elizabeth Taylor nerd,” Kardashian even conducted the last interview with Taylor in 2011 for Harper’s Bazaar before she died.
Celebrity jewelry designer Lorraine Schwartz purchased the Mike Todd earrings at Christie’s Auction House in December 2011 for $374,500. According to a press release, Schwartz chose to add them to her own personal collection “in honor of her inspiring and meaningful friendship with Elizabeth.”
The girandole-style chandelier earrings showcase three round-cut diamond drops suspended from an intricate openwork plaque adorned with round-cut diamonds arranged in delicate floral and bow motifs. The entire design hangs from a round-cut diamond flower stud, all exquisitely set in platinum.
I am a huge Elizabeth Taylor nerd.
– Kim Kardashian to Harper’s Bazaar
The earrings were a favorite of Taylor’s, and she continued wearing them long after Mike Todd’s death in 1958, just a year after he gifted them to her. She wore them in the ads for her White Diamonds perfume, at the Golden Globes in 1957, and at the Academy Awards in 1992.
In Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry, Taylor wrote, “The earrings have been among my favorites for years.” While staying at the Ritz in Paris with Mike Todd, the couple took a stroll, window-shopping at the Place Vendôme.
She recalled, “I’ve always loved dangling earrings, and at the time, I wanted a pair of what I call ‘chandelier’ earrings,” writing, “I said, ‘Mike! Oh God, oh Mike, couldn’t I please, please, please? I can’t go home without them! Couldn’t we at least go in and look at them?'” She said, “In we went, and I tried on these long earrings. The more I swished my head back and forth, the more they twinkled, and Mike was just smiling at me. ‘Of course you can have them,’ he said.”
Taylor revealed that when she purchased them, the earrings were “paste,” rather than real, natural diamonds. Once the couple traveled back to New York, she opened up her jewelry box to an exciting surprise. Todd had them secretly replaced with natural diamonds.
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 Mike Todd tragically passed away.
Starring as Maggie Pollitt in the adaptation of the Tennessee Williams play, Taylor went back to set after two weeks of mourning. In the HBO documentary, 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 loving 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 Bulgari Birthday Diamond
One of Elizabeth Taylor’s diamond rings appeared as part of Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale this December. Her fourth husband, Eddie Fisher, gave his wife a Bulgari floral fancy yellow diamond ring to commemorate her 30th birthday. Centered by a 2.62-carat fancy vivid yellow marquise-cut diamond, the ring reflects Taylor’s lifelong passion for natural diamonds and her celebrated relationship with the Italian luxury jewelry house. The auction offers collectors the rare opportunity to own a jewel directly tied to one of the most iconic jewelry lovers of the 20th century.
Head of Christie’s jewelry department in the Americas, Claibourne Poindexter, told Only Natural Diamonds, “From exceptional diamonds with storied provenance—including jewels once owned by Elizabeth Taylor and Barbara and Frank Sinatra, such as an emerald-cut diamond of 20.60 carats—to rare colored stones and important signed pieces, Christie’s December New York jewelry sales showcase the extraordinary breadth of our global offerings.”
In My Love Affair with Jewelry, she recalls feeling like her relationship with Eddie was already over, and struggling with her affection for Richard Burton, who was also married to someone else at the time. “On this ‘occasion,’ I had just turned thirty, and it was the most miserable day of my life. The earrings, the ring, the brooch, came as a total surprise from Eddie on my birthday,” she wrote. She was waiting for any birthday wishes from Burton, although they were trying to halt their romance.
A couple of months later, Taylor’s marriage to Eddie Fisher had deteriorated, and he was moving out of their shared home. After that, she remembered, “I received a bill for the jewelry. Did I end up paying the bill? – mmm, probably.”
Elizabeth Taylor’s Bulgari Serpenti Diamond Cuff
Known as one of Hollywood’s greatest love affairs, Richard Burton and Elizabeth 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.
I introduced Liz to beer, she introduced me to Bulgari.
— Richard Burton
While filming Cleopatra in the early days of their romance, 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.
The Krupp Diamond, Later Named 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.
Taylor was known to wear her magnificent jewelry collection in her personal life as well as in both stage and screen performances. She wore plenty of her own diamond Bulgari baubles in the 1968 film, Boom!, where she starred alongside 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.
In her final interview, Taylor told Kim 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.
When Kardashian received her 15-carat 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💍.”
The Iconic Taylor-Burton Diamond
One of Taylor’s most famous jewels was the 69.42-carat pear-shaped Taylor Burton Diamond. In 1966, a 240-carat rough diamond was uncovered at the De Beers-owned Premier Mine in South Africa. American jeweler Harry Winston then bought the stone. After studying it for months with his lead diamond cutter, Pastor Colon Jr., the two agreed on a plan. The rock was cleaved in two, with the larger half planned to be cut into a perfectly proportioned pear-shaped diamond and set in a ring.
At the time, it was one of the largest pear-shaped diamonds ever to come to market. Known for buying lavish jewelry for Taylor, Richard Burton expressed his interest in the humongous diamond. While the couple was on vacation in Switzerland, the diamond was then brought to the couple to preview.
On auction day, October 23, 1969, Burton sent a representative to bid on the stone. He put a cap of $1 million on the purchase price, which was an exorbitant amount at the time. Ultimately, he was outbid by Cartier, whose representative won the stone for $1,050,000. Not one to give up easily, Burton contacted Cartier the next day and purchased the diamond for a reported $1.1 million.
Taylor requested that Cartier create a diamond necklace with smaller pear-shaped diamonds to showcase the large stone. She wore the diamond, draping her décolletage, to attend Princess Grace of Monaco‘s Scorpion-themed 40th birthday party in Monte Carlo in 1969, and to present the Best Picture Award at the 1970 Oscars.
After divorcing Burton, she sold it in 1979. Taylor only owned the stone for less than a decade, and yet it’s still mainly referred to as the Taylor Burton diamond. Perhaps it is because people remember a great diamond—especially when it is tied to a great Hollywood romance.
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 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.
Taylor wrote in her book, “Richard learned so much about jewelry, and his taste in jewelry became so refined. I think the more history there was to a piece, the more interested in it he became.” She said, “There wasn’t anything that interested him that he didn’t do research on. And he loved to watch my reaction to any piece he was considering buying for me.”
Elizabeth Taylor’s Diamond and Emerald Bulgari Necklace
In 2013, the Roman jewelry 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 Bulgari bauble to receive her Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her part in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 1967.
The diamond and emerald Bulgari suite was gifted to her by her fifth (and sixth) husband, Richard Burton. He gave the assortment to her in stages, first presenting Taylor with the emerald and diamond pendant brooch as an engagement gift in 1964. She even wore the brooch to her wedding to Burton with flowers in her hair. Once she was given the necklace, Taylor often clipped her brooch to it to dangle as a beautiful diamond pendant.
Elizabeth Taylor’s “Night of the Iguana” Brooch by Jean Schlumberger
Elizabeth Taylor attended the 1964 premiere of her husband’s film, Night of the Iguana, wearing her brunette tresses tied up in a topknot bun, wrapped in a ribbon with a diamond fish ornament, designed by Jean Schlumberger of Tiffany & Co.
“Richard gave me this pin to wear for the opening of The Night of the Iguana,” she wrote in Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry. She says the jewel, “forever symbolized the early days of our marriage when we lived in Puerto Vallarta, while Richard was working on the Tennessee Williams film.”
“To me, this is one of the most extravagant pieces that Schlumberger ever designed. This timing was fortuitous,” she said. Burton nicknamed the Schlumberger brooch “The Iguana” in honor of the film. “Richard and I had a sentimental attachment to the Schlumberger Iguana brooch because it symbolized when we were so madly, happily in love.”
Designed as a diamond body with polished gold scales and brilliant-cut diamonds, accented by cabochon sapphire eyes and a calibré-cut emerald mouth, extending polished gold whiskers, mounted in 18-karat gold and platinum, with French exportation marks and maker’s mark.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Taj Mahal Diamond Necklace
Margot Robbie walked the red carpet at the Wuthering Heights premiere in Los Angeles, wearing Elizabeth Taylor’s heart-shaped Taj Mahal Diamond set in a Cartier necklace. Styled by Andrew Mukamal, the Elizabeth Taylor Estate reached out to him about touring the archives months before the premiere.
The heart-shaped table-cut diamond is inscribed with the phrase, “Love is Everlasting” in Persian, alongside the name of Nur Jahan. It’s believed that the gem was given to her by her husband, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahangir. The diamond was later passed down to their son, Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan.
Mounted in jade, accented with table-cut diamonds and red gems, and suspended from a traditional Indian silk cord, the Taj Mahal Diamond was acquired by Cartier in 1971. Alfred Durante created a woven gold and ruby necklace, with a tassel dangling from the back, rondelles punctuating the chain, and a slider allowing the length to be adjusted.
Cartier’s president, Michael Thomas, presented the necklace to Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in 1972. Burton requested to see jewelry options in time for Valentine’s Day or Taylor’s 40th birthday, which was also coming up on February 27th.
He then decided to gift it to his wife on her 40th birthday, during a big celebration in Budapest, surrounded by the likes of Princess Grace Kelly, Ringo Starr from the Beatles, and Academy Award-winning actor Michael Caine.
La Peregrina Pearl, Diamond, and Ruby Necklace by Cartier
Arguably the most famous pearl in human history, the 500-year journey of La Peregrina Pearl began in the Gulf of Panama in 1513, where it was discovered by an enslaved diver who was reportedly granted his freedom in exchange for the pearl. It was sent to Philip II of Spain, who later gave it to Mary I of England as a wedding gift.
Following Mary’s death, the pearl returned to Spain, where it was worn by generations of queens and immortalized in portraits by Diego Velázquez. It later disappeared during the Napoleonic Wars—earning the pearl its enduring nickname, La Peregrina, or “the Wanderer.” Centuries later, La Peregrina entered a new chapter of life when it came into the possession of none other than Elizabeth Taylor.
In tandem with her legendary love for diamonds, Taylor was deeply devoted to pearls. While staying at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas in 1969, she realized the pearl was missing and feared it had been lost forever. After searching the hotel room in mounting panic, she noticed one of her Pekingese puppies chewing on something small. Inside the dog’s mouth was La Peregrina—miraculously unharmed.
Taylor remembered the incident in Elizabeth Taylor: My Love Affair with Jewelry, describing both the terror of losing the historic pearl and the overwhelming relief of recovering it intact.
Remarkably, this was not the first time La Peregrina had gone missing. Despite its substantial size, it was reportedly once lost in couch cushions at both Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace before being safely recovered.
Later, Taylor commissioned Cartier to set La Peregrina into a ruby and diamond necklace, with the pearl suspended low in a design likely inspired by Velázquez’s portraits of Spain’s Queen Margarita and Queen Isabel, who had also worn the pearl as a pendant. The necklace was auctioned by Christie’s in 2011, where it sold for $11 million.
Elizabeth Taylor’s Jade and Diamond Bangles by Lorraine Schwartz
In 2011, Kim Kardashian 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.”
