Legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor was known for many things – unrivaled screen presence, Academy Award wins, multiple marriages and very public divorces, an incredible passion for raising funds and awareness for the fight against AIDS, and of course, her incredible affinity for jewelry.

Over the years Taylor has owned some of the world’s most famous jewels and in 2002, she even published a book called My Love Affair with Jewelry http://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Taylor-Love-Affair-Jewelry/dp/0743236645,

This has been a favorite book for many reasons, but one of the most remarkable things is that Elizabeth clearly understood the  temporary nature of her custodianship of these gems:

“I’ve never thought of  my  jewelry as trophies. I’m here to take care of it and to love  it, for we are  only temporary custodians of beauty”

We have remembered a few of our favorites among the many famous pieces associated with Taylor are:

1. The 33.19-carat Krupp Diamond, given to Taylor by Richard Burton. Burton paid $305,000 for the Harry Winston ring in 1968 after  it was put up for auction in the late 1960s.

When Vera Krupp’s (one of the famous munitions family in WW11) diamond went up for auction the screen legend remarked” I thought how perfect it would be if a nice Jewish girl like me were to own it.” She then noted that to her, “the Krupp says, ‘I want to share my chemistry—my magic—with you.”

For the rest of her life, Taylor would wear the ring nearly every day, even in her movies.

2. The 69.42-carat pear-shaped Taylor-Burton Diamond, purchased at an auction by Burton for over $1 million. It was originally set in a ring, but given its size it was re-worked into a necklace by Cartier.

The 69.42-karat gem is shown in October 1969, around the time it is first cut and auctioned. Cartier outbids Richard Burton and spends a then-record $1.05 million on the gem, but Burton soon spends even more to buy the diamond from Cartier to give it to wife Elizabeth Taylor.

When Richard Burton bought the diamond from Cartier, he allowed the jeweler to display for a limited period of time in New York.

3. The Bulgari Sapphire Necklace, given to Taylor by Burton in 1971, the diamond-and-sapphire sautoir necklace boasts a 321-carat Burmese sapphire pendant.

“Richard learned so much about jewelry , and his taste in jewelry became so refined. ….. And he loved to watch my reaction to any piece he was considering buying for me”

4.The Van Cleef & Arpels Daisy Necklace, which Taylor wore when she received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Academy Award for her anti-AIDS activism. The necklace was borrowed and featured a white-and-yellow-diamond daisys with chrysoprase leaves. After the Academy Awards, Taylor bought the piece.

5. The Diamond Chandelier Earrings, which were first worn by Taylor in 1959 and then later to the 1992 academy Awards. The original chandelier earrings were  bought by Mike Todd in Paris and were actually paste and he had them made up with real diamonds.

Now, an estimated $150 million worth of Taylor’s jewelry will go up for auction at Christie’s at a yet to be determined date. Christie’s is no stranger to Taylor’s mesmerizing collection; they hosted the first-ever public exhibition of her legendary private jewelry collection at their Rockefeller Center galleries nearly a decade ago.

So surely these countless stunning gems will now help keep her legacy alive and those who buy them love them as she did!