On March 23, 2011, Elizabeth Taylor, a legendary superstar and Hollywood's most famous beauty, died of heart failure in Los Angeles, the west coast city of the United States and the seat of Hollywood, at the age of 79. Soon after, Christie's announced that from 15 September 2011, it would be based in Moscow for a three-month global tour of the Elizabeth Taylor Collection Auctions in London, Los Angeles, Dubai, Geneva, Paris, Hong Kong and New York. Elizabeth Taylor's entire collection of about 300 pieces of jewelry, estimated at $30 million, was donated in part to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
At the night auction of the "Elizabeth Taylor Legendary Jewelry Collection" on December 13, 2011, nearly 400 seats on the scene were all numbered, and the participants must have applied for a bidding plate to receive the corresponding seat tickets, and the telephone commission was also told a few days before the auction that all lines and time slots were full, and if they wanted to bid, they could only be submitted in writing.
Due to the large number of visitors, the auction did not start on time that night, and Marc Porter, president and president of Christie's Americas, joked: "Let's use Taylor's time for the auction." "It seems that many beauties have the habit of not being punctual.
The lights slowly dimmed, and on the big screen appeared the classic clips of Taylor from the movies "Taming the Taming", "Spring Supper", and "Jumen Qiao woman"... The final scene is a home video of Taylor, who is smearing sunscreen on the pool at home while doing a telephone commission bid for a jewelry auction:
"Are you still bidding?"
"Of course!"
…………
"Congratulations, you got it!"
"Baby, we seem to have exceeded 10 times the estimated price!"
This seemingly random clip seems to be foreshadowing the grandeur of the auction that night, invisibly elevating the atmosphere of the auction that night to the best state. The marathon auction took more than 4 hours, and all 80 pieces of jewelry auctioned that night were sold, with a total transaction amount of up to 116 million US dollars, setting a record for the highest transaction amount in the world's private jewelry collection auction and creating 7 world auction records!
Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry collection is recognized in the world as one of the most beautiful and priceless private collections to date, and Taylor not only loves these jewels, but also has a thorough study of their craftsmanship, rarity, quality and history. However, despite Taylor's deep knowledge of jewelry, her collection does not have any fixed themes, because in Taylor's view, each piece of jewelry is a gift from a lover or close friend, which has a special meaning.
Elizabeth Taylor's love affair has always been talked about, and she has experienced 8 marriages and 7 husbands in her life (she has been married twice with Richard Burton). Marilyn Monroe once said, "Jewelry is a woman's best friend." "Since ancient times, pure love seems to become vulgar once it is stained with matter, but this is not the case in Elizabeth Taylor," and perhaps only a truly beautiful woman can make jewelry shine because of a woman, and not become a slave to jewelry.
<b>Girlish feelings - the most beautiful couple in the history of cinema</b>
In 1949, 17-year-old Elizabeth Taylor met montgomery Clift, a famous American actor, for the movie "Heart like Iron". The night she first met Montgomery was a night she would never forget, when she returned home and excitedly ran to tell her mother that she had met a man who was different. She looked fascinated and thought back to Montgomery's smiling voice: "He is a strange man, I have never seen such a man, he seems to be very serious about everything, his thoughts are very complicated, I want to know him." 」 ”
After that, whenever something happens to Montgomery, Taylor's affectionate and somewhat curious expression will appear. In Elizabeth's autobiographical film of the same name many years later, the acquaintance of the two is described as follows: Elizabeth fell in love with Mondy at the first sight of the studio, in the play, she faked the first love to him, in a kiss scene, she kissed him passionately, but as soon as the director's card fell, he immediately ran away.
Montgomery's voice and smile always seemed to flow strange passwords, and Taylor received and understood them, but she always felt that it was not enough. Montgomery's focus had a huge impact on Taylor, after knowing Montgomery, she was no longer angry with the director's requirements like the little princess, and also realized that her acting skills at that time were indeed mediocre, and "Lang Heart Like Iron" became the real enlightenment work in Taylor's acting career.
Montgomery is probably the most critical actor in Hollywood history, seemingly gentle, but with inherent pride and intransigence in his bones. He always has his own persistence, and when he thinks he should rest, he will resolutely rest for a few years, and he will not care about the gains and losses. He refused many roles that could become popular, and the reason he refused to play the male protagonist of "Sunset Boulevard" was separation, and he was unwilling to make love with old women in the play.
Many people feel sorry for him, but he completely ignores it, insisting on only playing roles that he thinks are worth playing, not caring what these roles can bring him. However, it was different for Elizabeth, she was the actor Montgomery had worked with the most times, and after "Lang Heart Like Iron", the two co-starred in "Raintree County" and "Summer Obsession", and the last two plays Montgomery did not even look at the script to determine the performance.
Once Elizabeth came to visit, but saw Montgomery Creft discussing a vacation intimately with a man, she immediately escaped, Montgomery caught up with her in the garden, and asked her sadly: "Do you hate me?" Even in today's America, where same-sex feelings cannot fully gain public acceptance, and were taboo at the time, Elizabeth overcame personal feelings and worldly prejudices, and she shook his hand and asked, "Hate you?" No, Mondy, I love you! ”
Since then, Taylor and Montgomery have formed a lifelong, somewhat complex and intimate relationship. According to Taylor himself, from the first time he saw Montgomery, she had become a sticky cake behind him, and she was going to stick to him to death, and no one should try to take her off. In the decades that followed, she did, and every time in Montgomery's most difficult time, Elizabeth would stop at nothing to step forward and fight for Montgomery to get out of it, and her most selfless and touching care for him continued to the last moment of Montgomery's life.
On May 6, 1950, at the age of 18, Elizabeth Taylor married Well-Lard Nicholson Hilton, heir to the famous Multinational Hotel Hilton hotel in the United States. However, due to The Vice of Well-Lac's drug addiction, the marriage lasted only eight months, and the two officially divorced on February 1, 1951. Kellard was married twice in his life, the first wife being Elizabeth Taylor and the second being the oil heiress Patricia Trish McClintock, who was also the uncle of Paris Hilton, an American socialite. Under the divorce agreement, Elizabeth Taylor received $500,000 from Well-Lacard Nicholson Hilton.
Taylor married British actor/producer Michael Wilding on 21 February 1952, and during his 5-year marriage, Taylor bore Wilding two sons: Michael Howard Wilding (born 6 January 1953) and Christopher Edward Wilding (born 28 February 1955), who divorced on 30 January 1957. It is reported that they still maintained a good friend relationship after the breakup.
<b>Shallow love - the "queen" who is related to jewelry</b>
On February 2, 1957, three days after ending her previous marriage, Taylor married Michael Todd, a prominent Hollywood producer who was 25 years older than himself.
Michael Todd Antique Diamond Crown
Michael Todd was so fond of Taylor that he gave him an antique diamond crown made in 1880. In Elizabeth Taylor's 2002 book My Love Affair With Jewelry, Michael Todd confessed affectionately when he presented Taylor with the crown: "You are my queen." That same year, Elizabeth Taylor wore the antique diamond crown to the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles for Michael Todd's 80 Days Around the Globe.
Cartier "pool" ruby jewelry set
One day in August, while Taylor was swimming in his villa in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, France, Todd suddenly pulled out 3 Cartier jewelry boxes containing a gorgeous set of ruby jewelry. Elizabeth, who had no mirror in her hand, used the pool water as a mirror and saw her neck, ears, and wrists glittering, and she was so excited that she recalled: "I cried out in delight, hugged Michael, and pulled him into the pool. This also reflects Todd's deep love for Elizabeth Taylor, and what is rare is that this beautiful memory has left a precious video record.
However, this beautiful love story came to an abrupt end on March 2, 1958, a year and a month after the two married. On that day, Taylor was supposed to take a private jet with Todd to a banquet in New York, but when Taylor was unwell from a cold, Todd advised her not to take a plane, did not want Todd's plane to crash in New Mexico, and he was also killed in the accident. Before that, the couple's daughter Lisa (Elizabeth Frances Todd) had just been born on August 6, 1957, and the plane that had happened was named after Todd's daughter. For the next year, Taylor locked himself in his home and refused to see anyone.
<b>Unforgettable - sensational Hollywood's amazing love</b>
On May 12, 1959, Elizabeth Taylor became married to singer Eddie Fisher. In order to marry Elizabeth, Eddie Fisher abandoned her family, and actress Debbie Reynolds became a victim of this marriage. Before this, Fisher and Reynolds and Taylor and Todd were close friends, and after Taylor's widow, Eddie Fisher helped take care of the aftermath, not wanting the two to have a secret affair. But the controversial marriage lasted less than five years. Eddie Fisher once said that a diamond worth fifty thousand dollars would keep Taylor happy for about four days.
Twentieth Century Fox's 1962 film Cleopatra is Taylor's most iconic masterpiece. In this work, Elizabeth Taylor and British actor Richard Burton play the male and female protagonists, and it is said that Taylor was initially afraid of Burton because he was a talented actor in Shakespeare among all the population, and when Taylor, who was wearing a thick Egyptian eyeshadow, walked straight up to her: "Did someone tell you that you were a beauty?" Later, Taylor often laughed and recalled Burton's first conversation: "It's hard to imagine, we started like this!" ”
When Taylor and Burton performed the first scene in front of the camera, many people on the set already felt that they had faked it, and Taylor's fourth husband, Eddie Fisher, accompanied her on set. "The shooting scene is quiet, you can feel the current between the two of them." On March 6, 1964, Taylor ended his relationship with Eddie Fisher, and on the 15th of the same month, Burton and Taylor, who broke through many obstacles, finally quietly held a wedding ceremony in Montreal, Canada.
Bulgari emerald jewelry set
When Taylor and Burton were filming Cleopatra in Rome, they made several trips to the Bulgari boutique on Via Condotti in Rome. In Taylor's jewelry collection, almost all of the most expensive were given away by Burton. In addition to major anniversaries, Burton would borrow various names, such as a table tennis or swimming competition between the two, to give Taylor interesting jewelry. "Burton would find reasons and opportunities to buy jewelry for Taylor, and he would always know what Taylor would like." Paolo Bulgari, president of Bulgari, said, "Whenever Burton picks up a piece of jewelry, he'll see how Taylor reacts. There seemed to be a unique electric current in the air that brought their minds together. While in Rome, Burton often joked: "I introduced Liz (Burton's nickname for Taylor) to beer, and she introduced me to Bulgari." Burton's first official gift to Taylor was Bulgari's emerald and diamond jewelry set, in which the necklace was strung with 16 Colombian octagonal-cut emeralds surrounded by brilliant diamonds.
Bulgari serpentine diamond-set watch
Elizabeth Taylor also wore a Bulgari snake watch made of all-gold with diamonds at the head and tail. The watch was sold for $974,500 on the night of the Elizabeth Taylor Collection auction in New York in December 2011, 65 times higher than the estimated value of $12,000 to $15,000.
Elizabeth Taylor's Diamond
In 1968 Richard Burton auctioned Elizabeth Taylor for $305,000 for the 33.19 ct D/VS1 (perfect) Kruber Diamond from Parker Burnett. This beautiful diamond was Elizabeth Taylor's favorite white diamond, which was later set into a ring and has been inseparable from her ever since. She once said: "This ring has an indescribable charm, it will emit red, white, blue, purple and other brilliant diamond light, as if there is life." Christie's and its estate trustees later named the diamond "Elizabeth Taylor's Diamond."
Van Cleef & Arpels Richard Burton Ruby and Diamond Ring
Early in his marriage to Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton promised to give her a unique ruby of perfect color and explicitly said ,"Imperfect don't." Four years later, on Christmas Day 1968, he finally fulfilled his promise by secretly putting a small gift box containing an 8.24 ct ruby and diamond ring designed by Van Cleef & Arpels into Elizabeth's Christmas stockings, but because the box was so small, she did not even notice it, and was eventually found by her daughter Lisa. When Elizabeth opened the box, she found this "the most perfect colored gem she had ever seen." ”
Cartier "Wanderer" legendary antique pearl necklace
On Valentine's Day in 1969, Burton overpowered a member of the Spanish royal family at an auction for $37,000 to buy it as a gift for Taylor's 37th birthday. The pearl weighs an astonishing amount of 203 glyphs, equivalent to 55 carats (pearls take 10 years to grow for every 100 glyphs). This teardrop-shaped pearl is one of the most familiar antique pearls in the world. Inspired by a portrait of Queen Mary of Scots, Elizabeth Taylor commissioned Cartier's designers to design a necklace in the Renaissance style, and today in cartier's company archives, sketches of the designs of the time can be seen, with taylor's personal advice marked with a red pen and a selection of accessory gemstones. The necklace sold at auction for $11.8425 million.
"Burton Taylor" super beautiful diamond
In 1969, Richard Burton competed with Cartier for one of the world's largest and most beautiful diamonds at auction. They competed for the diamond, which was produced in South Africa and weighed about 240 carats before being processed, and american gem dealer Harry Winston bought it and had him grind it into a 69.42 ct pear-shaped diamond. Burton lost to Cartier, however, and the diamond was auctioned off for $1 million to a Cartier jewelry store in New York. But the day after the auction, at the indomitable urging of Richard Burton, Cartier finally agreed to sell the diamond to Richard Burton for a symbolic additional $69,000, on the condition that the diamond be publicly displayed in cartier store windows in New York and Chicago for a period of time. Since then, this diamond has had a name - "Burton-Taylor" super beautiful diamond, which bears witness to Burton and Taylor's lifelong love. Ten years later, Taylor auctioned off the diamond and built a hospital in Botswana, South Africa. The diamond was bought for $3 million by an unknown Saudi buyer in 1979.
Commemorative jewelry for the birth of Van Cleef & Arpels grandchildren
In 1971, at the age of 39, Elizabeth Taylor was promoted to grandmother, and Richard Burton presented Van Cleef & Arpels with lion's head jewelry in his honor. She once wrote in the book: "When I saw this set of jewelry, my heart pounded. Richard admired the set of jewelry and said, 'Ah! You are so pretty! Who believes you've become a grandmother? ’”
"Taj Mahal" diamond pendant
In 1972, Burton celebrated Taylor's 40th birthday by giving her a 17th-century "Taj Mahal" diamond pendant. This heart-shaped diamond pendant originally belonged to shah Jahangir, the ruler of the Mughal Empire, and is engraved with his wife's name "Nur Jahan". Later, Jahangir gave the pendant to his son Shah Jahan, who was the builder of the Taj Mahal. Elizabeth Taylor once said: "Richard joked that he wanted to buy me the Taj Mahal, but it was too big for us to move it back to our home in Switzerland. This necklace is my consolation prize. The necklace sold at auction for $ 8.8185 million.
But in fact, this is a pair of lovers who can only love each other and cannot keep each other, they are like two fiery flames, they love so deeply when they first see each other, as if they can melt all obstacles, once they get close to each other, they will be burned by each other and have to endure pain and separation. His alcoholism is so desperate that her fiery temper becomes the biggest obstacle in their relationship. Taylor always liked to provoke Burton, saying, "Richard is like a bomb that explodes at every turn." Wherever we go, there are tongues and swords. ”
In the spring of 1973, the two went to Rome together, but they were embarrassed by an argument. Late at night, Burton, who was tossing and turning, wrote to Taylor, who lived next door: "We are all crazy, and more unfortunately, we are obsessed. "It was painful to have a fight with Burton every time. He wrote sincerely in a letter: "God punishes Prometheus because he stole the tinder; God punished me because I stole a fire and tried to extinguish it, and this fire is you. We always fought inexplicably, and it made me miserable. But the biggest reason we tortured each other was – I love you whether we're together or not. ”
Although they loved each other deeply in their hearts, and despite their efforts to maintain the marriage, on June 26, 1974, they inevitably temporarily ended their 10-year marriage.
After the divorce, the two met again in Geneva. Taylor wept into tears in Burton's arms. In the face of the media, she did not hide her feelings: "We love each other very much, except for life and death, we will not really be separated." Separation is only temporary, perhaps for better together later. God bless us through this difficult time and please pray for us. ”
After months of divorce, Burton could not suppress his thoughts of Taylor and began to write love letters to her like crazy. There is reason in the letter: "God testifies that what I care about is your happiness, not who you are with." There was jealousy: "The person you are dealing with now must be good to you, and if he can't do that, I'll go to him with a hammer and a brick to settle the score!" "If someone hurts you, you call me and say, 'I need you,' and I'll go at supersonic speed." There is a heartfelt confession: "The most magical word in the world is your name." And the sadness of falling into despair: "The most essential problem, the most terrible, the most frightening fact, is that we have been misunderstanding each other, and our thinking is very different." 」 He turned his tears into a whisper on the letter paper: "You have to take good care of yourself... No matter how bad I have been to you, you have to know that I love you very much! Come back to me as soon as possible! I'm not a qualified husband, but love can overcome all differences. ”
Once, after Burton borrowed wine to pour sorrow, he couldn't help but call Taylor to meet him, as if he wanted to seize the opportunity to renew his old relationship. When the two met, he looked at Taylor like a child asking for help, and his eyes were heartbreaking: "You are so reluctant to come back to me?" After more than a year, the former couple finally remarried on October 10, 1975 in Botswana, a southern African country. At the wedding, Taylor affectionately said: "Honey, I want to tell you, this is the last time, we are going to stay together, we never need to get married again - of course, I don't want a divorce." 」 But the marriage ended in an argument less than a year, and on August 1 of the following year, Burton and Taylor divorced for the second time, leaving them with only one option.
20 days after the divorce, Burton hastily married British model Susan Hurt, and four months later, Taylor married Senator John Warner. In 1982, they both divorced, and the following year, they co-starred in a well-received stage play "Private Life", but due to drug abuse and alcohol abuse, she was too fat to attract much, and he married his fourth wife, Sally Burton. In 1983, Taylor's first acquaintance with The King of Fashion, Michael Jackson, became a friendship, and many of Taylor's jewelry collections were gifts from Michael Jack.
However, until Burton's death in 1984, the couple remained moderately close to each other, so close that Burton's later wife, Sally Burton, could not stand it but could not control it, Burton's niece revealed in an interview in 2009 that Burton still talked to Taylor for hours on the ocean in Switzerland from time to time, and after his death, his widow, Sally Burton, refused to invite Taylor to the funeral.
In the last years of his life, Burton poured out his infatuation to Taylor in the form of letters and notes until his death on May 8, 1984. Before Burton's death, Taylor received a letter from Burton stating that the time spent with Taylor was the happiest time of his life. Burton also said he would be willing to try to reunite with Taylor again if he had the chance. Taylor picked up Burton's last letter to her with a trembling hand and burst into tears. She had always regarded the letter as her most precious treasure and placed it in a cupboard at the head of the bed.
Seven years after attending the funeral, Taylor married her eighth husband, Larry Fortensky. Fortenski is more than ten years younger than Elizabeth, and the two met in the famous Betty Ford drug rehab, where the wedding took place at Michael Jackson's "Dream Manor." However, due to the inability to tolerate Elizabeth's luxurious life, the marriage lasted only 5 years.
In her later years, Elizabeth Taylor not only successfully quit drug addiction, but also successfully regained her beauty with amazing perseverance to lose weight. After that, she devoted herself to public welfare, and in 1985, Taylor helped establish the American AIDS Research Foundation; The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation was established in 1991. Together, the two institutions raised $243 million in funding AIDS research and improving the lives of people living with HIV and THE virus. On March 23, 2001, taylor received the Joan Hershore Humanitarian Award at the 65th Academy Awards On March 23, 2001, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton received Taylor and awarded her the Presidential Civic Medal, thanking her for her contributions to the AIDS cause.
<b>Summary:</b> Elizabeth Taylor's love, romance, marriage, divorce have provided the media with a wealth of lace news in the last century. Some people say that God gave Lisa bait Taylor beauty, wealth, and success, but did not give her a happy marriage, but in fact, before each new marriage, she happily declared: "This time, I found true love." Thus it can also be said that she spent her whole life in "true love", as dazzling as the jewels that witnessed his legendary love story. Although her rich and free emotional life may not be in line with a woman's moral code in the eyes of many people, Taylor, who remains in the hearts of many, is still kind and upright. Elizabeth Taylor once said, "You are you." All you can do in this world is to help others as much as possible, to make them realize their dreams, and to help others further. At 1:28 a.m. local time in Los Angeles, Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor died of heart failure in the hospital at the age of 79. (Photo/Text Watch House Xie Xin)