Elizabeth Taylor's Jewels Already For Sale

Elizabeth Taylor's Jewels Already For Sale


The late Elizabeth Taylor's great passion, her staggering collection of massive diamonds and rare vintage jewels, will be auctioned by famed auction house Christie's, sources toldPeople magazine.

While Christie's is refusing to confirm the report and no date has been announced, the mag reports the auction house will disperse the collection valued at more than $150 million. Taylor speculated before her death that one day her private collection -- said to rival that of some royal households -- would be "scattered around the four corners of the world."

The 79-year-old Academy Award winning actress, who died from congestive heart failure on March 23, had worked with the auction house in the past.

Elizabeth Taylor wears the Taylor-Burton diamond on a necklace at the 1970 'Oscar' Ball. Frank Edwards, Fotos International / Getty Images

In 2002 Taylor allowed Christie's to host a public exhibition of her jewels, including the famed 33-carat Krupp diamond, the La Preregina Pearl by Cartier and the heart-shaped Taj Mahal diamond. That exhibition benefited her signature charity, The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

Featuring colored stones such as suites of rubies, rare pearls and diamonds as famous as the actress herself, interest in any Taylor auction is expected to be great. Interest will surely pique if the sell-off includes pieces such as the Krupp diamond, gifted by her fourth and fifth husband, the late actor Richard Burton.

The actress behind the bestselling White Diamonds fragrance line was said to still wear the Krupp to events as pedestrian as matinee movies, accessorized with jeans, diamond bracelets and an Ed Hardy baseball cap.

Taylor's friend, jeweler Lorraine Schwartz, described the actress's attachment and appreciation to her storied collection: "She [had] collection and collections, and rooms. She knew where every single piece was. [It was] amazing," she told People. The jeweler recalled checking on Taylor after a fall. The actress conveyed she was shaken up but fine because, "I'm wearing my bracelet."

There's been no word from the late actress's representatives on whether any of the jewels will be passed on to her four surviving children, several grandchildren or if the entire collection will benefit her AIDS foundation andamFar, the charities to which Taylor devoted so much of her philanthropic life.