ALTHOUGH ELIZABETH TAYLOR was married several times, in her book My Love Affair with Jewelry and in an interview, Taylor says that the two great loves of her life were director Mike Todd and Richard Burton. While married to theater and film producer Mike Todd, he bought her a tiara and a ruby and diamond necklace that were awe-inspiring pieces. When Taylor and Todd were in Paris, he bought her a pair of beautiful antique paste chandelier earrings she had asked him for in a shop on Place Vendôme. They were glorious depictions of the Georgian time period in the girandole style and a pair of earrings any one of us who love antique jewels would want today. A couple of months later back in New York, Taylor said they felt different on her ears. She discovered that Todd, always wanting to dazzle her, had them remade with real diamonds as a surprise. Taylor was overjoyed. Heartbreakingly, Todd was killed in 1958 when his private plane, The Liz, crashed in New Mexico.
A still of the diamond version of ET’s earrings that sold at auction to Lorraine Schwartz
Fast forward to Kristin Davis, most noted for her character of Charlotte York in the original SATC series, the two films and the new And Just Like That reboot of the series. Her character was more low key—a diamond sort of girl—most recently wearing Tiffany pieces, diamond tennis necklaces, and in this instance, a pair of Georgian girandole earrings from Fred Leighton, which are reminiscent of Taylor’s original paste and also her diamond version of her earrings. Taylor wore them on numerous occasions and to different events. At Taylor’s record-breaking sale of her jewelry in 2011, Lorraine Schwartz, jeweler to today’s contemporary stars and one of the big names on the red carpet, successfully won them at auction.
It’s always a treat to see how antique styles play in modern day. At the New York premiere of the series, they set off Davis’ black dress and lit up her face, and if you didn’t know, would not seem like they were 200 years old.
Above: Elizabeth Taylor wearing the diamond version of the earring to an event.
