Elizabeth Taylor was known for her many expensive jewels, most of which were given to her by her then-husband Richard Burton, but the Hope Diamond was never one of them.
Elizabeth loved diamonds so much that she had two of the most rare, precious, and expensive stones named after her. The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond was 33 and a third carats, and the Taylor-Burton Diamond was famously 69.42 carats.
On November 10, 1958, they donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution, and almost immediately the great blue stone became its premier attraction. The Hope Diamond has left the Smithsonian only four times since it was donated.
What happened to all of Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry?
It was for this reason that she planned, in the event of her death, for Christie's to host an auction of her collection. As such, after her death in 2011, a record-breaking, history-making auction of her jewelry took place in New York, billed as The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor.
What happened to Elizabeth Taylor's big diamond ring?
What happened to Elizabeth Taylor's engagement ring? Upon Elizabeth Taylor's passing, Christie's sold the diamond at an auction commemorating her life. The stone was a crowning jewel of the event. It sparkled in its own glass case at the center of the significant collection.
The pear-shaped, cushion cut, 45.52 carat, Fancy Deep Grayish-Blue, VS1 diamond (previously “Le bleu de France”) is the largest deep blue diamond in the world. Legend has it that the original form of the Hope Diamond was stolen from the forehead or the eye of a sculpted statue of the goddess Sita in a Hindu temple.
He went on to regale her on how Nicholas Fouquet, a French official, was beheaded along with Louis XV and Marie Antoinette, Princess de Lambale died at the hands of a vicious French mob, Sultan Abdul Hamid of Turkey lost his throne and his life when he purchased the stone, and a Russian count and actress was shot at ...
Since its discovery in India in 1642, the infamous diamond was stolen at least twice in its long history and has changed hands several times, leaving a trail of unfortunate fate and supposedly bad luck for almost every owner.
What was Elizabeth Taylor's net worth when she died?
She died from congestive heart failure on March 23, 2011. She was 79. It is believed that Elizabeth Taylor's net worth at the time of her death was between $600 million and $1 billion. The film icon structured her will as a revocable living trust.
And, well, she must have loved playing that part, because Liz would infamously walk down the aisle eight times (to seven husbands, marrying Richard Burton twice) over the next 40 years. Her first wedding took place in 1950, at the age of 18, and she didn't stop until her last stint as bride in 1991, at the age of 59.
It was originally known as the Krupp diamond for its original diamond, but it was renamed the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond after the engagement ring Richard Burton purchased for Taylor in 1968. Burton spent $307,000 diamond after it was auctioned off following Vera Krupp's death.
The incredible ring cost $4,060,000 in 1956. Today, the diamond ring would cost about $38,866,738. The spectacular ring features an emerald-cut diamond flanked by two baguette-cut side stones that's set in platinum. Threestone rings like Grace's symbolize the past, present and future of the relationship.
The Hope Diamond was not on the Titanic when it sank; it was owned by Washington socialite, Mrs Evelyn McLean, who didn't even set sail on the infamous ship. When she died in 1947, it was sold to pay off her debts. The precious stone has its own narrative that is worthy of a film in itself.
Then, it traded hands several times until it was bought in 1912 by Evalyn Walsh McLean, a Washington, D.C socialite, who owned it until her death in 1947. Harry Winston owned it for the next eleven years until he donated the Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian Institution in 1958. Now, the gem belongs to all Americans.
The Hear of the Ocean isn't the Hope Diamond, and the Hope Diamond was never aboard the real Titanic. Titanic combines history and fiction, but these elements blend so perfectly at times that the audience is surprised to learn that some of them, like the Heart of the Ocean, don't exist.
For more than a century, historians have debat- ed the existence of “sister” stones to the Hope diamond, most notably the Brunswick Blue and the Pirie diamonds. The recent discovery of a lead cast of the French Blue, the Hope's precur- sor, has provided a more accurate model of that diamond, which disappeared in 1792.
According to the legend, a curse attends the owner of the Hope diamond, a curse that first befell the large, blue gem when it was plucked (i.e. stolen) from an idol in India—a curse that foretold bad luck and death not only for the owner of the diamond but for all who touched it.
The phosphorescence comes from boron in the gem, the same element that makes it appear blue in normal light, said Jeffrey Post, curator of the National Gem Collection at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. But while all blue diamonds glow in ultraviolet light, most glow blue.
Among the men she wed in the 40 years between that first and last trip down the aisle were producer Mike Todd, actor and singer Eddie Fisher, and Senator John Warner. The book confirms however what has long been known, that the great love of Taylor's life was Richard Burton.
This exceptional stone was a symbol of one of Hollywood's greatest love affairs. Elizabeth Taylor's passion for glamorous jewels was legendary. Over the years she amassed a remarkable collection from the great houses—Bulgari, Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and more.
What was the diamond that Richard Burton gave to Elizabeth Taylor?
For Elizabeth's 40th birthday in 1972 Richard Burton gave her a heart-shaped diamond known as the Taj-Mahal. The diamond is fairly large and flat, with an Arabic inscription on either side. It is set with rubies and diamonds in a yellow gold rope-pattern necklace.
