A Glittering Preview of Elizabeth Taylor’s Legendary Auction at Christie’s
Christie's preview · Los Angeles · October 2011
The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor Her jewels, her caftans, her wedding dress and her Van Gogh, on view before the most talked-about sale of the year.
"This is the fashion equivalent of Tutankhamun's tomb."Meredith Etherington-Smith, cultural historian
On October 10, 2011, Christie's opened the doors to a preview of Elizabeth Taylor's jewels, fashion and personal treasures, and I had to see it.
The press preview took place at the MOCA Pacific Design Center in Los Angeles, the first stop of an international tour ahead of the December auction in New York. They were calling it the crown jewels of Hollywood, and walking through it felt less like an exhibition than a walk through her life: the love affairs, the drama, the generosity, all of it told in gemstones and silk.
The sale was Taylor's own decision, made a few years before her death that March. As Christie's Americas chairman Marc Porter put it, she wanted someone new to enjoy them. And part of the proceeds would go to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, which she started in 1991, long before it was fashionable for a star to put her name to that cause.
The jewels: a love story in gemstones
There were 269 jewels in the sale, and so many of them came with a story about a man.
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La Peregrina
Est. $2–3 millionThe star of the show. A 16th-century pearl once owned by Spanish royalty, given to Taylor by Richard Burton in 1969. She helped design the ruby and diamond Cartier necklace it hangs from, and under the lights it glowed like something out of a fairy tale.
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The 33.19-carat diamond
Est. $2.5–3.5 millionBurton bought this ring for her in 1968, and she wore it almost every day. Once known as the Krupp Diamond, it is now simply the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond.
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The Cleopatra emeralds
BulgariEmerald and diamond necklace, pendant, ring and bracelet that Burton began buying her in Rome in 1962, when their romance started on the set of Cleopatra.
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Gifts from Mike Todd
Tiara est. $60,000–80,000Burton wasn't the only one. Producer Mike Todd gave her the antique diamond tiara she wore to the Oscars in 1957, and a Cartier ruby and diamond suite he famously presented to her while she was swimming in the pool of their villa on the Riviera. Her love of drama never stayed on screen.
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A watch from Michael Jackson
Est. $300,000–500,000A diamond wristwatch from her close friend, one of the most personal pieces in the room.
Fashion: glamour nobody styled for her
The Botswana wedding dress
My favourite piece was the dress she wore to marry Burton for the second time, in Botswana, on October 10, 1975: a Gina Fratini gown of green chiffon melting into pink and lilac, strung with beads and feathers. It felt intimate and wildly romantic, the opposite of a red-carpet look.
Taylor's style was instinctive, bold and entirely her own. Unlike today's stylist-curated celebrity wardrobes, it comes from a time when Hollywood stars dressed for themselves, not for the critics.
The caftans
A whole room of 1970s caftans, gold-embroidered, tie-dyed and jewel-coloured, evoked her bohemian Riviera years. Alongside them hung the gowns of her later decades, from Valentino and Dior to Versace, as she moved into the age of the supermodel without ever looking like anyone else.
"The Face"
And then there was Versace's beaded evening jacket covered in portraits of Taylor herself, from Cleopatra to the 1980s, framed in jewel-coloured crystals. Only she could have worn it.
The Baguettes
She was also a devoted collector of the Fendi Baguette, special editions included: python, lizard, tie-dye, beaded and embellished.
And the rest of her world
The collection went beyond jewels and clothes. Her monogrammed leather director's chairs were there, along with film memorabilia and her private art collection, including a Van Gogh. It was a time capsule of Hollywood's golden age, and a portrait of a woman who lived without apology and loved extravagantly.
What happened next
Before the sale, Christie's hoped the jewels would bring more than $30 million, and the fashion and memorabilia another $20 million. Its experts warned that the "Liz factor" could blow those estimates sky high. They were right. At Christie's New York in December 2011:
The jewellery alone made about $137 million, a record for a private jewellery collection at auction. Read Christie's own story of how the sale came together.
Watch
Inside the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor at Christie's.
Quick answers
How much did Elizabeth Taylor's collection sell for?
$156.75 million at Christie's New York in December 2011, with all 1,778 lots sold. The jewellery alone brought about $137.2 million, a record for a private jewellery collection.
How much did La Peregrina sell for?
About $11.8 million. The 16th-century pearl, a 1969 gift from Richard Burton, hangs from a ruby and diamond Cartier necklace Taylor helped design.
What is the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond?
A 33.19-carat diamond ring, formerly the Krupp Diamond, that Burton bought for her in 1968. She wore it almost every day. It sold for about $8.8 million.
What did she wear to marry Burton in Botswana?
A Gina Fratini dress of green-and-rainbow chiffon with beads and feathers, at their second wedding on October 10, 1975.
- Christie's — The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor: the making of an auction
- Forbes — Historic Elizabeth Taylor auction by the numbers (2011)
- CNN — Liz Taylor's jewelry prices outstrip estimates (2011)
- Wikipedia — La Peregrina pearl
- Reuters — preview coverage, Los Angeles, October 10, 2011
