Celebrity
While they were married, Richard Burton purchased Elizabeth Taylor a huge 69-carat diamond ring. Here's how much the ring cost.
Published on February 12, 2023
2 min readWhen one thinks of an iconic celebrity couple, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor probably come to mind. The two actors starred in countless films together and were married and divorced twice. At one point during their relationship, Burton bought Taylor a 69-carat diamond ring.
Richard Burton gifted Elizabeth Taylor with a huge diamond ring
Taylor and Burton first met when they filmed the movie Cleopatra together in 1962. At the time, Burton was married to Sybil Christopher and Taylor was married to Eddie Fisher.
When Taylor and Burton’s affair was discovered, Taylor married Burton 10 days after she officially divorced Fisher.
Their marriage was tumultuous and they were often the center of tabloid gossip and fan fixation. According to History.com, Burton bought Taylor an expensive diamond ring after a fight.
History.com reports that “The famous Cartier diamond was the product of a fight they had in a restaurant one night. Burton called Taylor’s hands large and ugly, and she responded that in that case, he’d better buy her the 69-carat ring she wanted so that her hands looked smaller and more attractive.”
According to the website, the ring cost $1.5 million.
What did the diamond look like?
The ring Burton purchased for Taylor is described as being pear-shaped and it was first discovered in 1966.
According to Natural Diamonds, “a 240 carat rough was uncovered at the DeBeers owned Premier Mine in South Africa” and “American jeweler Harry Winston bought the stone.”
Natural Diamonds reports that after Winston studied the diamond “with his lead diamond cutter Pastor Colon Jr., the two agreed on a plan. The rock was cleaved in two, with the larger half planned to be cut into a perfectly proportioned 60 plus carat pear shape diamond and set in a ring.”
When Burton was intent on buying the diamond at an auction at the Parke-Bernet Galleries, Cartier ended up purchasing the diamond. The actor went on to buy the diamond from Cartier, but there was a catch.
According to Natural Diamonds, “Cartier created a big publicity moment with the mega diamond and Hollywood’s most high-profile couple. What became the Taylor-Burton diamond was put on display for a week at the store’s Fifth Avenue Mansion, drawing the attention of nearly 6,000 visitors.”
Elizabeth Taylor did not keep the diamond
Burton and Taylor for the first time in 1964. The two divorced in 1974. The two actors married again in 1975 until they divorced for a second time in 1976.
According to History.com, Burton sold the famous Taylor-Burton diamond three years after she and Burton divorced for the second time.
History.com reports that the diamond was put “up for auction” and “The jeweler Henry Lambert bought it for $3 million and then sold it to an anonymous buyer in Saudi Arabia.”
After Burton and Taylor divorced for the last time, Taylor married two more times and both marriages ended in divorce. Burton married twice more and was married to Sally Hay Burton at the time of his death in 1984.
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