The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond

Elizabeth Taylor wears The Krupp Diamond in 1986. Photo credit: PH1 Blakemore, USO. Photo has been cropped and is in the public domain.   The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond weighs a jaw-dropping 33.19 carats. You can see it there in the photo, shimmering on Ms. Taylor's left ring finger. It must rise three-quarters of an inch off the base of her finger!

The Krupps from Germany

Richard Burton bought the now-famous ring for his wife for $305,000 on May 16, 1968. It had gone under the hammer at Sotheby's New York as part of the Vera Krupp estate auction. Vera Krupp had been married to Alfried Krupp, head of one of the most well-known German munitions companies. Simply called Krupp, the company has been most widely known for its nefarious involvement in Jewish labor camps during World War II. The Krupps purchased the diamond from Harry Winston, whose brilliant platinum setting demonstrates perfectly the mesmerizing effects of what was then known as the Krupp Diamond. After acquiring the gargantuan diamond, Elizabeth Taylor followed the lead of Ms. Krupp and wore the ring almost daily for the remainder of her long life.

Elizabeth Taylor's Favorite Diamond

It became such a vital part of Ms. Taylor's signature style that it was renamed in 2011 the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond. Ms. Taylor, during an interview with Larry King in 2003, eluded to what she called the "perfect poetic irony" of a Jewish girl now owning the ring that once defined a woman who married a known Nazi war criminal who was convicted of murdering hundreds of thousands of Jews during World War II. Larry King joked about the ring being cursed, but it is clear in the transcript that Ms. Taylor entertains no such superstitions about the stone. In her book, My Love Affair with Jewelry, she writes of the diamond in euphoric, worshipful terms: "When I look into it, the deep Asscher cuts--which are so complete and ravishing--are like steps that lead into eternity and beyond. ... To me, the Krupp says, I want to share my chemistry--my magic--with you."

Christie's Legendary Jewels Sale

Never once does she appear to fear the stone, though the life she lived was definitely marked with its fair share of troubles. Liz Taylor's life was a battlefield, particularly in the area of love. She suffered numerous health issues and divorced eight times. She claims to have nearly died at least four times. Her eighth marriage and her fifth experience with death were her last on both counts. On March 23, 2011, the world lost one of its shining stars when Ms. Taylor succumbed to congestive heart failure after a long seven-year battle with heart disease. Nine months later, in one of the most legendary sales in auction history, Christie's placed the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond (formerly known as the Krupp Diamond) on the auction block for the second time. Experts at Christie's set a materials estimate of between $2.5 and $3.5 million for the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond. According to reports written for Forbes and for Korea Joongang Daily, the diamond ring was purchased for a staggering $8.8 million by a man named Daniel Pang. All told, this sale fetched a staggering $115.9 million, with a second sale of her lesser known jewels realizing $21.3 million, bringing the total for her entire collection to over $137 million.

The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond in Korea

Mr. Pang purchased the historic diamond on behalf of a major Korean retail group called E-Land. The South Korean company owns a collection of construction firms, apparel companies, retail malls, hotels, restaurants, and theme parks. E-Land's most celebrated park, located in Daegu, is fashioned as a European-style theme park centered around the Woobang Tower. Known as E-World, this theme park was earmarked to host the fabled Elizabeth Taylor Diamond in one of its exhibition halls.* Though the two dames that once owned this magnificent diamond are gone from the earth, their legacy of treasuring nature's most magnificent gifts remains alive and strong. Diamonds truly are eternal, and they carry their stories with them wherever they go. ~Angela Magnotti Andrews, Staff Writer

*Attempts to contact E-World for a statement were met without success. If anyone has visited E-World in Daegu and seen the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond on display, please email me to let me know (angelamagnottiandrews@gmail.com).

References

1. Christie's. "The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor: Jewelry (II)." Posted December 14, 2011.
2. Christie's. "The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor: The Legendary Jewels, Evening Sale (I)."
3. Christie's. "The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond Diamond Ring," Lot 80, Sale 2623, posted December 2011.
4. CNN Larry King Live. "Interview with Dame Elizabeth Taylor." Aired February 3, 2003.
5. "E-Land pays $8.8 million for 33-carat Elizabeth Taylor diamond ring," Korea Joongang Daily, December 16, 2011.
6. "E-World...the happiest place in Daegu!" Sneakers, Socks, and Soju blog. Posted June 12, 2013.
7. "The Krupp Diamond." InStyle, photo gallery, #6 of 10. Accessed February 25, 2015.