Like so many Hollywood couples, even the Taylor and Burton’s fiery romance fizzled out. After the couple divorced in 1976, Taylor sold the diamond three years later and donated part of the proceeds to help build a hospital in Botswana. Throughout her life, she was widely known for her generous philanthropy. Taylor followed up White Diamonds with several other fragrances, including a number of flanker scents such as Sparkling White Diamonds in 1999 and Brilliant White Diamonds in 2001. [2] The sales of Taylor's perfumes, particularly White Diamonds, were her principal source of income during her later life. She purportedly earned more from White Diamonds than from any of her roles in Hollywood films. [3] Legacy [ edit ] White diamonds is a floral perfume with notes of rose, jasmine, [1] neroli, narcissus, and Egyptian tuberose. [2]

Though she had been presented with three before it, Taylor’s first real gobstopper jewel came when Mike Todd proposed to the then 24-year-old with a “not quite 30 but twenty-nine-and-a-half” carat engagement ring in 1956. There is a supplemental letter from the Gemological Institute of America stating that the diamond has been determined to be a Type IIa diamond. Type IIa diamonds are the most chemically pure type of diamond, and often have exceptional optical transparency. Type IIa diamonds were first identified as originating from India, particularly from the Golconda region, but have since been recovered in all major diamond-producing regions of the world. Famous examples of Type IIa diamonds are the 530.20 carat Cullinan I and the 105.60 carat Koh-i-Noor. In the years since its debut, a series of innovative, White Diamonds-inspired fragrances have been released, including Sparkling White Diamonds (1999), Brilliant White Diamonds (2001), White Diamonds Lustre (2014), White Diamonds Night (2016), Love & White Diamonds (2017), and White Diamonds En Rouge (2019). In honor of the eagerly awaited and delayed 2021 Academy Awards, we are reupping this story about the Taylor Burton diamond that Elizabeth Taylor wore to the ceremony in 1970 when she presented Best Picture. The supplemental letter from the GIA is accompanied by a monograph from the Gemological Institute of America which features additional photographs, data collection charts and gemological research which details the rarity of the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond.Dame Elizabeth Taylor owned not one but two very famous diamond rings. Also known as the Taylor-Burton Diamond and the Krupp Diamond, the Elizabeth Taylor diamonds are worthy of her celebrity status and were cornerstones of her collection. Let’s take a closer look. The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond Collection A German actress named Vera Krupp was the first known public owner of the diamond, receiving it in the form of a brilliant ring from her wealthy industrialist husband sometime between 1952 and 1956. After a very public divorce, Vera moved to America, making her new private homestead the 500 acre Spring Mountain Ranch outside of Las Vegas. Said to be a glamorous and ostentatious woman, Krupp would often be seen wearing the large natural diamond jewel whenever she ventured into town. McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–" . Retrieved May 28, 2023. The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond is an Asscher cut diamond with a fairly large culet facet, indicating it was likely cut before the 1920s, when culet facets were being phased out. A report (1132411262) dated 9 May 2011 from the Gemological Institute of America states that the diamond is D colour, VS1 clarity; accompanied by a diagram indicating that the clarity may be potentially internally flawless. Burton and Taylor divorced twice. After the second split, Elizabeth Taylor’s pear shaped diamond was sold to New York jeweler Henry Lambert, for an estimated 5 million in 1978. This translates to about 18.9 million in 2015. Part of the sale’s proceeds funded the construction of a new hospital in Botswana.

White Diamonds was Taylor's second perfume, after Passion, which she introduced in 1987. [2] Other celebrities had previously lent their name to fragrances on occasion, such as Sophia Loren, who released an eponymous perfume in 1981. [1] One of Taylor’s most famous jewels was the Taylor-Burton diamond. It’s unforgettable as much for its beauty and size—a 69.42 carat pear shape diamond—as for the romantic story of how Taylor’s husband Richard Burton chased it down for the love of his life. Taylor owned the diamond for less a decade (after divorcing Burton, she sold it in 1979), 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 romance. Beginning in 2011, Taylor stipulated that 20% of all sales in perpetuity be directed to her charity, the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. [2] Burton and Taylor's jewels and other investments bought by the couple were officially assets of a tax shelter established by the pair, called the Atlantic Corporation. [12] Public exhibition [ edit ]Though not much is known about this famous diamond’s history prior to the early twentieth century, experts have surmised that it could have originated in India’s storied Golconda region or South Africa’s famed Jagersfontein Mine. Also, due to the stone’s cut featuring a large open culet and rectangular shaped corners (often referred to as an Asscher cut), it’s believed to have been faceted sometime before 1920.

Elizabeth Taylor wore the Krupp Diamond as a ring, and called it her favorite piece. The Krupp Diamond and other famous pieces of jewellery in Taylor's collection became part of Taylor's image. After Taylor's death, the stone was renamed "The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond".Shortly after the couple divorced in 1976, Elizabeth Taylor sold the diamond and donated a portion of the proceeds to fund the building of a hospital in Botswana. (Currently it is believed to be in a private collection.) While the actress expressed regrets at selling the diamond over the years, she most likely chose to do so because the insurance policy was prohibitive about how often she could wear it and how she needed to be attended by armed guards when she did so. Her perfume campaigns were the perfect platform for dressing to the hilt. By Tanya Dukes | August 26, 2022