The world’s most celebrated diamonds come with a name and a story, the more glamorous the better. Think of the 69.42-carat, pear-shaped dazzler that Welsh actor Richard Burton gave his film star wife Elizabeth Taylor in 1969. Now known as the Taylor-Burton diamond, it was the first diamond to reach $US1 million at auction. Burton was the underbidder and, furious at missing out, he rang the winning bidder, Cartier, and offered $1.1 million. The diamond changed hands in less than 48 hours and was worn on Taylor’s finger until she had the huge rock reset in a far more wearable necklace.
Elizabeth Taylor wearing her 69.42-carat dazzler at the 42nd Annual Academy Awards in Hollywood in 1970. Ron Galella/Getty Images
Gabriella CoslovichSaleroom writerGabriella Coslovich is an arts journalist with more than 20 years’ experience, including 15 at The Age, where she was a senior arts writer. Her book, Whiteley on Trial, on Australia’s most audacious of alleged art fraud, won a Walkley in 2018.
