In celebration of July’s birthstone, we look back at one of the most iconic ruby jewels ever to hit the auction block: Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor’s "perfect" 8.24-carat gem that actor Richard Burton gave her as a Christmas gift in 1968.
Burton, who famously showered Taylor with extraordinary jewels, promised early in their relationship to find her a very special ruby with perfect red color.
“But it has to be perfect,” he warned.
Four years later, he delivered on that promise with a Van Cleef & Arpels masterpiece nestled in a box at the bottom of her Christmas stocking.
Taylor recalled nearly overlooking the teeny package, only to be reminded by her daughter Liza that something special was still waiting to be unwrapped. When she opened the box, she found a rich Burmese ruby surrounded by diamonds.
“It was the most perfect colored stone I’d ever seen,” Taylor later said.
Auction bidders clearly shared her sentiment. When Taylor’s legendary jewelry collection was sold by Christie’s after her passing in 2011, the ruby ring fetched $4.2 million — more than quadrupling its high estimate. It also set a world record at the time for highest price-per-carat ever paid for a ruby: $512,925.
(The current world record for the most expensive ruby per carat is held by the "Estrela de Fura," a 55.22-carat Mozambique ruby that sold for $34.8 million at the Sotheby's "Magnificent Jewels" auction in New York on June 8, 2023. This price paid translated to $630,288 per carat.)
Another ruby treasure in Taylor's collection — a Cartier necklace featuring seven oval and cushion-cut rubies with diamond accents — also stunned auction watchers in 2011. Initially estimated at $300,000, the necklace soared to a final price of $3.8 million.
Taylor’s entire collection of 80 iconic pieces netted $115.9 million, setting multiple records at the time, including highest price ever paid for a pearl jewel ($11.8 million), highest price paid per carat for a colorless diamond ($8.8 million), highest price ever paid for an Indian jewel ($8.8 million), highest price paid for an emerald jewel ($6.6 million), and the highest price paid for natural pearl earrings ($1.9 million).
For those born in July, the ruby remains a symbol of passion, love and vitality — qualities Taylor embodied both on screen and in life. Her ruby ring continues to stand as a dazzling reminder of love’s promise… and of the enduring power of a truly perfect gemstone.
Credits: Jewelry images courtesy of Christie's. Elizabeth Taylor promotional headshot by Unknown authorUnknown author Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio publicity photographer, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor from the film Cleopatra by Trailer screenshot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
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