When a breathtakingly beautiful woman wears even more breathtaking jewels, what do you focus on? The woman, or her beautiful baubles? That was the case with the violet-eyed siren Elizabeth Taylor, who went from child prodigy to Hollywood royalty and captured the hearts of everyone she met. She easily captured their attention owing to her unmatched collection of jewels, and it wouldn’t be wrong to say the jewels surpassed even her eight weddings when it came to talking points. After all, while she had eight weddings, she owned upwards of a thousand jewels, spanning museum-grade high jewelry to fashion and costume pieces.
The highlight of this collection was undoubtedly the Krupp Diamond (later renamed The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond), Taylor’s ultimate signature piece. For one piece of jewelry, a ring no less, to stand out among thousands is a testament to its grandeur. Chemically speaking, the 33.19-carat, D-color mammoth flaunting VS1 clarity was a Type IIa diamond, making it one of the most chemically pure types of diamonds. Yet the impact was out-and-out visual, not only in Taylor’s widely admired violet eyes, but in the eyes of the beholder.
According to A Trip Up My Sleeve, a charming incident of this occurred aboard a Concorde flight, where the award-winning ‘Butterfield 8’ star was a regular. Taylor was seated in Concorde’s front cabin, sharing the space with fellow star Michael Douglas seated nearby, and carrying Burton’s record-breaking gift on her finger. What is truly amusing about the flight incident is that it wasn’t the ring’s allure that first captured flight attendant Sally Armstrong’s attention, but Liz Taylor’s eyes. “Just go and look at Liz Taylor’s eyes,” a fellow stewardess urged.
Armstrong carried Taylor’s drink to her seat, feeling self-conscious because Taylor was looking directly back at her. Suddenly, both the exceptionally beautiful eyes and that unmissable, mountainous ring were right in her line of sight. The Concorde attendants could not help but compliment the ring, and what Taylor did next was something few celebrities would ever do. Warm and welcoming, she removed the ring completely and said, “Just try it on, honey.” How many people in the world other than Taylor could say they slipped on the $305,000 Krupp Diamond that Richard Burton purchased at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York? With that purchase, he had set the world record for a diamond sold at auction at the time; today, the diamond is estimated to be worth around $15 million.
For Armstrong and her co-worker Bernadette, the moment was truly once-in-a-lifetime. To soak it in completely, they carried the ring away from Taylor’s seat and slipped into the aircraft’s lavatory, taking turns trying it on in private. The two British Airways stewardesses stood inside a cramped Concorde lavatory, dazzled by the insane beauty of Elizabeth Taylor’s 33-carat diamond, all while terrified that one wrong move could send it down the toilet. Perhaps learning of the value could have caused that misstep in sheer disbelief. For these stewardesses, who catered to around 100 passengers with an elaborate five-course service, trading silver meal trays for the world’s most coveted diamond must have felt surreal, in an airplane lavatory no less.
A clear favorite of the actor and jewelry lover, the ring was worn by Taylor almost every day for the rest of her life, rarely fussing over the fact that it was an ultra-expensive ring. Beyond Sally Armstrong, Taylor repeatedly allowed ordinary people, designers, children, and acquaintances to try her greatest jewels on. A December 1987 Associated Press report preserved by the Los Angeles Times noted Elizabeth Taylor as one of Concorde’s most frequent fliers, and the Armstrong incident was fondly reiterated by other crew members over the years.
Several former British Airways Concorde crew members remember Taylor among their favorite celebrities, not merely because of her gems, but owing to her even more radiant heart. They remember her as unusually warm and approachable, unlike many VIP passengers who remained secluded. There is a great lesson in this, in a world where the size of diamonds and possessions often dictates the size of an ego, Taylor’s ego seemed invisible, even when the entire world had its eyes on her.
Note: The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, formerly known as the Krupp Diamond, sold for $8.8 million at Christie’s in 2011. While some recent estimates have placed its potential present-day value at around $15 million or more, the diamond has not been publicly sold or formally appraised at that figure.
