Last month, with the passing of Elizabeth Taylor, the world lost a true, larger-than-life icon. While her roles as Cleopatra and her noted philanthropy are what come to mind when many of us think of her, for those of us who follow jewelry, there is another larger-than-life element associated with Elizabeth Taylor: the Taylor-Burton diamond.
While Taylor’s fifth husband, Richard Burton, lavished her with many jewels during their marriage, one, deservedly, gets the most attention. We know it as the Taylor-Burton diamond. Specifically, however, it was the 69.42ct pear-shape diamond. The stone itself was cut from a 240.80ct rough stone with a cleaving process that lasted six months.
The legacy of the diamond doesn’t rest solely with Taylor, however. In 1969, the diamond was put up for auction by a previous owner with the understanding that the winner of the auction would be able to name the diamond. Before the auction, Taylor arranged a viewing of it, so her name was certainly mentioned at that time of the auction. At the end of the auction, however, it wasn’t Taylor or Burton who made the winning bid. Instead it was Robert Kenmore, Chairman of the Board of the Kenmore Corporation, the owners of Cartier, Inc.
The winning bid? $1,050,000. To put that in perspective, the previous record paid for a gem was $305,000–a full $745,000 less. It was promptly named the Cartier diamond.
Still, as Burton was an underbidder at the auction, he was determined to get that diamond for Taylor. So, one evening in a hotel lobby in Southern England, Burton negotiated the purchase of the diamond with Kenmore’s agent… from a payphone. He eventually acquired the diamond under the condition that Cartier could still display the diamond, but under the name “The Taylor-Burton Diamond.” The diamond drew thousands of visitors every day at the New York Cartier location.
Following her divorce from Burton, Taylor announced she sell the diamond again. This time it was purchased in 1979 by New York jeweler, Henry Lambert for the hefty sum of $5,000,000. Taylor used part of the proceeds to build a hospital in Botswana.
The diamond’s current owner is jewelry legend, Robert Mouawad.

The diamond itself is one of the 20 biggest known high-quality diamonds in existence. One of the most remarkable aspects of this story is that it was actually valued at about $25 million – $10.3 million less than its eventual selling price.
Last Tuesday in Hong Kong, a huge and very rare, 5-carat pink diamond was auctioned off for – get this – $10.8 million! 
November is Giveaway Month at SuperJeweler.com. Starting today we are launching four (yes, four) great new contests! Entering is easy and you can win some incredible jewelry just in time for the holidays. 


