Last week, Bulgari held a party at which they displayed several of Ms. Taylor’s most famous Bulgari pieces. This is enough of an excuse for me to talk about her.
More specifically: her Bulgari emeralds.
(Image via The Jewllery Editor.)Elizabeth Taylor’s Bulgari emerald and diamond suite was a gift from her legendary lover and occasional husband, Richard Burton. He bought it for her while they were filming Cleopatra in Italy. (Click here for my review of a book that involves that movie shoot!)
(Image via Maia Davitashvili.)We’re going to take a look at all of the pieces from Elizabeth Taylor’s incredible suite of Bulgari emeralds. It’s going to be great!
(Close-up of the brooch, via Maia Davitashvili.)
This spectacular Bulgari brooch is adorning La Liz’s hair from amid that fluff of feathers in the photo at the top, because she is the coolest person who ever lived. The brooch is mounted en tremblant, designed as a spray of variously-shaped diamond flower blossoms set with oval-cut emerald pistils and petals, extending baguette-cut diamond stems. It’s mounted in platinum and is circa 1960.
These, as you may have surmised, are the earrings. Bulgari, circa 1960, round and pear-shaped diamonds accenting two exceptional pair-shaped emeralds. Also: perfection. These earrings – like their late owner – are glamor incarnate.
(Image via Maia Davitashvili.)Elizabeth Taylor, fabulously wearing some of her Bulgari emeralds. I spy the emerald and diamond earrings and the floral brooch.
Here’s the necklace, possibly the most iconic and fabulous of this set. It’s shown here without the large pendant, which is detachable. It’s rather short, only 14.25 inches. The necklace is set with a graduated series of sixteen rectangular-cut and square-cut emeralds, each within a circular-cut diamond surround, spaced by graduated circular-cut, marquise-cut and pear-shaped diamond quatrefoils. It was made in 1962.
You can see the detail is really spectacular – it’s not just giant emeralds with some diamonds attached, it’s complex and carefully designed.
The pendant/brooch, which could attach to the end of the necklace or be worn on its own. It features a rectangular-cut emerald within a pear-shaped diamond surround. It’s very slightly older than the rest of the set, circa 1958.
(Image via Yahoo News.)Here’s the necklace with the pendant/brooch attached, being handled by some very lucky Christie’s employee.
(A beautiful photo of a younger Liz wearing her Bulgari emeralds, minus the necklace.
(Image via The Jewellery Editor.)The bracelet is like a smaller, slightly compressed version of the necklace. It’s set with a graduated series of thirteen rectangular-cut and square-cut emeralds, spaced by rectangular-cut diamonds, trimmed with circular-cut diamond trefoils and pear-shaped diamonds, and is mounted in platinum. It was made in 1963 and is extremely drool-worthy.
(Image via Maia Davitashvili.)Last, but certainly not least, the ring. It’s set with a rectangular-cut emerald, within a circular and modified triangular-cut diamond surround, mounted in platinum. Bulgari, circa 1962. Perfection.
If you want to see more of Liz’s beautiful bling (and why wouldn’t you?) check out my Pinterest board dedicated to her collection.
(This one’s just in case you were anything other than totally convinced that she was the coolest ever.
Elisabeth Taylor’s Bulgari emeralds and diamonds were listed in Christie’s December 2011 The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor: The Legendary Jewels, Evening Sale (I). The Images and info in this post came from a number of different sources; please see links in individual descriptions for attributions.
