#Liz #Taylor’s Pearl Sells for $11.8M Record after her #Lhasa ate it.
Bloomberg.com: A 50.6-carat pearl given to Elizabeth Taylor by her husband Richard Burton sold for a record $11.8 million today as Christie’s International began a four-day auction from the late actress’s estate in New York. COMMENT: It was the pearl her dog attempted to eat.
The drop-shaped pearl known as “La Peregrina” is suspended from a necklace lined with diamonds, rubies and cultured pearls. It inspired a fierce bidding battle, lifting the price well beyond the auction company’s $2 million to $3 million presale estimate.
A Hollywood icon, Taylor (1932-2011) was married eight times, including twice to her “Cleopatra” co-star Burton. Known for her love of jewels, she was showered with diamonds, rubies and emeralds by her admirers.
Burton purchased the pearl in 1969 for $37,000 at Parke- Bernet Galleries in New York, which later became part of Sotheby’s, said Ward Landrigan, who headed the company’s jewelry department at the time.
Lost Pearl
Taylor misplaced the pearl on the night she got it and everyone began looking for it in the pink shaggy hotel carpet, Landrigan said .
“She had this white Lhasa Apso dog,” he said. “I saw the dog under a chaise. It was chewing on the pearl.”
COMMENT: Maybe she should have fed the dog?
“The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor,” including her diamonds, Impressionist paintings and couture gowns, was expected to tally more than $50 million. The gems alone achieved more than that on the first night, becoming the most valuable private collection of jewels sold at auction, beating the 1987 sale of the Duchess of Windsor’s pieces in Geneva.
COMMENT: I say defend the dog: I’ll bet that it would rather chew on a bone or food. The poor dog was probably bored, saw something odd and shiny, and went for it. Question: did it sell for almost $12 million WITH the Lhasa’s teeth marks on it?
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