When you think of "excess," your mind might jump to private jets or gold-plated cars. But for Elizabeth Taylor, it was a 69.42-carat pear-shaped rock that basically defined the word. Honestly, calling it a ring is almost a stretch, even though that’s how it started.
Imagine trying to drink a cup of tea while wearing a diamond the size of a walnut. Your hand would literally tilt. That was the reality for the elizabeth taylor pear diamond ring, a gem so massive it eventually had to be moved from her finger to her neck just so she could stand up straight.
It wasn't just about the size, though. The story behind this diamond is a mix of high-stakes auctions, a husband with a competitive streak, and a payphone in a dusty English pub.
The $1.1 million phone call that changed everything
In 1969, the world was watching an auction at Parke-Bernet in New York. A massive pear-shaped diamond, unearthed in South Africa’s Premier Mine just three years earlier, was on the block. Richard Burton, Taylor’s husband and frequent diamond-buyer, had set a limit of $1 million.
He lost.
Cartier swooped in and grabbed it for $1,050,000, setting a record for the most expensive jewel ever sold at a public auction at the time. Burton was furious. He wasn't used to losing, especially when it came to gifts for Elizabeth.
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Legend has it he spent the next day on a payphone at the Bell Inn in Buckinghamshire. He was yelling at his lawyer and negotiating with Cartier. He eventually paid $1.1 million to get the stone back. The deal had one catch: Cartier got to display the diamond in their New York and Chicago windows for a few days.
People lined up for blocks. 6,000 people a day shuffled past the window just to see "The Cartier Diamond." But once the display was over, it was whisked away, and the couple immediately re-christened it the Taylor-Burton Diamond.
From ring to necklace: A weight problem
When the stone arrived, it was set in a platinum ring flanked by two smaller diamonds. Taylor wore it that way for a bit, but there was a logistical issue. It was heavy. Like, really heavy.
She reportedly found the elizabeth taylor pear diamond ring too cumbersome for her hand. It would spin or drag her finger down. So, she commissioned the "jeweler’s jeweler," Oscar Heyman, to create a custom necklace for it.
The design was a cascade of pear-shaped diamonds leading down to the main attraction. Most of the iconic photos you see of her—like at Princess Grace’s 40th birthday in Monaco or the 1970 Oscars—feature the stone as a pendant, not a ring.
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What most people get wrong about the "Elizabeth Taylor Diamond"
If you search for her jewelry, you'll often see a big square-cut diamond referred to as "The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond."
Don't get them confused.
- The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond (formerly the Krupp Diamond): This is a 33.19-carat Asscher-cut diamond. She wore this as a ring every single day. It stayed with her until she died and sold at her estate auction for $8.8 million in 2011.
- The Taylor-Burton Diamond: This is the 69.42-carat pear-shaped stone. This is the one she sold while she was still alive.
Basically, the Krupp was her "daily driver," if you can call a 33-carat diamond that. The pear-shaped Taylor-Burton was the showstopper she brought out for the world's most exclusive parties.
The diamond's life after the divorce
Life with Richard Burton was famously "tumultuous" (a polite way of saying they fought a lot). After their second divorce in 1978, Taylor decided she didn't need the pear-shaped reminder anymore.
She sold the necklace in 1979 to a New York jeweler named Henry Lambert. Reports say the price was somewhere between $3 million and $5 million.
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She didn't just pocket the cash and run, though. A huge chunk of the proceeds went toward building a hospital in Botswana. It’s kinda poetic that one of the most ostentatious symbols of Hollywood wealth ended up funding healthcare in the country where diamonds are actually found.
Where is the pear diamond now?
After Lambert bought it, it didn't stay with him long. He sold it to Robert Mouawad, a Lebanese jeweler and legendary collector.
Mouawad decided the stone could be even better. He had it slightly re-cut to 68.09 carats. Why? To remove some small imperfections and "minor abrasions" (rumor has it Taylor wasn't exactly gentle with her jewelry; her dog allegedly once chewed on an expensive pearl). The re-cut brought the stone to "Internally Flawless" status.
It’s been in the Mouawad collection ever since. It rarely sees the light of day now, which is a bit of a bummer considering how much Elizabeth loved showing it off.
Key takeaways for collectors and fans
If you're looking for insights from the history of the elizabeth taylor pear diamond ring, here is what really matters:
- Provenance is everything. The stone is beautiful, but it's worth millions extra because of the "Taylor-Burton" name. Without that backstory, it’s just a very large piece of carbon.
- Settings change, but the stone is forever. Taylor wasn't afraid to tear apart a million-dollar ring to make a necklace that actually worked for her. If jewelry isn't wearable, it’s just sitting in a vault.
- Size has its limits. Even for a woman who loved "big," 69 carats proved to be a bit much for a finger. If you're designing a "tribute" ring, 3 to 5 carats is usually the sweet spot for that "big" look without the physical strain.
To truly appreciate the Taylor-Burton diamond, you have to look at the 1970 Oscar footage. In an era of grainy film, that pear-shaped stone still cuts through the light like a lighthouse. It wasn't just jewelry; it was a performance.
To explore more about Taylor’s jewelry legacy, you can look into the 2011 Christie’s "Legendary Jewels" auction catalog. It remains the gold standard for understanding how much value a celebrity name adds to a gemstone. For those wanting a similar look without the $5 million price tag, modern "pear with baguettes" settings are the way to go—just keep it under 70 carats if you want to be able to lift your hand.