Elizabeth Taylor Jewelry Auction Fetches Nearly $116 Million

Elizabeth Taylor, in the '50s

Everett

All that glitters is gold – as Tuesday night's Manhattan auction of 80 gems from the estate of Elizabeth Taylor fetched nearly $116 million, a dazzling world record for a private jewelry collection.

"It's one of the most extraordinary auctions that Christie's has ever had and a testament to the affection for Elizabeth Taylor worldwide," said Marc Porter, chairman and president of Christie's Americas, reports the New York Post.

The highest price for a single item – $11.8 million – was set by the "La Peregrina," the 16th-century pearl on a necklace designed by Cartier and which husband Richard Burton gave Taylor in 1969. It carried a pre-auction estimate of between $2 million to $3 million, and when bidding passed the $10 million mark, the auction gallery burst into applause.

Its final price also set a record for most expensive single pearl jewel. In all, the sale broke seven world records, including those for the per carat price for a colorless diamond, for an Indian jewel, and a ruby per carat, reports Forbes.

A 33.19-carat diamond ring Burton also gave Taylor – the battling Burtons, as they were known, married and divorced twice, but never fell out of love – fetched $8,818,50.

Another Burton gift, the heart-shaped Taj Mahal Diamond, which he gave her for her 40th birthday in 1972, sold for $8.8 million, after a pre-auction estimate of $300,000–$500,000.The original owner was believed to be the emperor Shah Jahan (1592-1666), who built the Taj in memory of his late, beloved wife Mumtaz-i-Mahal.

The new buyer was reported to be Daniel Pang, representing a Korean hotel conglomerate that intends to display the treasure at the flagship hotel in Seoul.

The screen legend's diamond and sapphire ring, a gift form her pal Michael Jackson, went for $600,000.

Taylor died last March, and a bulk of the proceeds from the auction will benefit her 20-year-old Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

Additional sales of Taylor property – her art, wardrobe and mementoes – is being held later this week at Christie's New York. Her collection of impressionist and modern art is to be auctioned at Christie's in London in February.

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