Elizabeth Taylor and the gigantic Nazi diamond that ended up in the hands of "a pretty Jewish girl"

After Queen Elizabeth II, actress Elizabeth Taylor owned the largest private collection of jewelry in the world. Her passion for diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and pearls was as inordinate as her fondness for going through the vicarage. Aware of the great fortune she had in precious stones, the last great star of classic Hollywood always confessed that "I am not the owner of these pieces, I am only the custodian of them."

One of the most spectacular jewels was the 33.19-carat Krupp diamond that belonged to Vera Krupp, wife of the industrialist Alfried Krupp, a faithful ally of Hitler to whom he offered the production of his steel factories. After World War II, the businessman was tried for war crimes and for using numerous Jews from concentration camps as cheap labor.

When Vera passed away, Richard Burton bought it at auction for $307,000 in 1968 and gave it to Elizabeth Taylor while he was on the Kalizma (combination of the first syllables of his three daughters, Kate, Liza and Maria), the couple's private yacht. which was moored on the River Thames in London. On several occasions, instead of staying at the exclusive Dorchester hotel, they chose to live on their ship because they did not want their pets to suffer due to the quarantine.

From that moment on, Taylor never took it out of his hand. It was her favorite jewel. It symbolized the love of Burton, the man she loved the most along with her third husband, producer Mike Todd, who gave her the first pieces of high jewelry, including a complete set of Cartier diamonds and rubies from Burma and a tiara. of diamonds, among other acquisitions. And because of him she converted to Judaism in 1959 at Hollywood's Temple Israel where she adopted the Hebrew name of Elisheba Rachel. Those who attended the ceremony commented that hearing her utter "Sh'ma Yis'ra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad" was truly moving.

Therefore, when she began to wear the diamond in her hand, she did not hesitate to confess to the press that "when it came up for auction in the late 1960s I thought how perfect it would be if a pretty Jewish girl like me were the owner". The center stone is Asscher cut, has a D color grade (extremely rare) and a VS1 clarity grade (practically perfect), is set in a platinum ring designed by the prestigious jeweler Harry Winston and has a brilliant on both sides. baguette size.

One of the funniest anecdotes had the actress and Princess Margaret of England as protagonists. Both had previously coincided in different events, but at a wedding in London, the sister of the queen of England noticed the actress's fabulous ring. "Is that the famous diamond?" How big! How vulgar! ", To which Taylor replied: "Would you like to try it on? ". When the princess was absorbed looking at it on her finger, the star snapped:" Doesn't it look so vulgar now? " .

Married twice to Richard Burton, the Welsh interpreter gave him her most expensive and important pieces of jewelry. After the death of the protagonist of Cleopatra, her estate was auctioned at Christie's at the end of 2011. Burton's jewels reached the highest prices, for example, the Pilgrim pearl that belonged to the Bourbons was awarded for 11.8 million dollars ; a Bvlgari emerald set fetched $24.7 million and the 17th-century Taj Mahal diamond sold for $7.8 million. However, the Krupp reached the astronomical figure of 8.8 million dollars.

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