Kong
[Moderator]
7855
Elizabeth Taylor Exhibition is on display at the Bulgari store in Los Angeles, Rodeo Drive
The Elizabeth Taylor Exhibition is on display at the Bulgari store in Los Angeles, Rodeo Drive and will be open to the public from now through to March 10th and will showcase the actress’s longstanding love affair with Bulgari and the wonderful pieces owned by the actress that were bought back by the brand at her estate auction.
Elizabeth Taylor’s personal jewelry collection was touted as one of the greatest ever assembled; this is partly because of the superlative quality of the collection, and partly because of our profound fascination with the woman who wore them.
In 1961 Elizabeth Taylor arrived in Rome to star as Isis, Queen of the Nile in the cinematic magnum opus Cleopatra. In Rome, this era was known as the Golden Age of cinema; the movie studio Cinecittà was located just outside of town, attracting hoards of international movie stars to the Eternal City. Bulgari’s store on the via dei Condotti – just a stone’s throw from the Spanish Steps - became the prime destination for the glitterati. This is when Taylor began to ammass her spectacular collection of Bulgari jewels.
Taylor stated that “undeniably one of the biggest advantages to filming Cleopatra in Rome was Bulgari’s shop. I used to visit Gianni Bulgari in the afternoon and we’d sit and swap stories.” It was in that very place where Elizabeth Taylor became the temporary “guardian,” as she liked to be known, of fabulous Bulgari jewels.
One of Taylor’s first Bulgari pieces was this emerald and diamond En Tremblant brooch.
Tremblant Brooch in platinum with emeralds and diamonds, ca. 1960
Fisher commissioned Bulgari to make this exquisite turquoise and gold mirror, dubbed the Cleopatra Mirror, especially for Elizabeth, possibly as a 30th birthday present. (Whether or not it was intended to be used in the film is unclear.) Designed in sculpted 18k gold and turquoise with Egyptian Revival motif of a bird with outstretched wings.
A snake formed part of Elizabeth Taylor’s headdress for a love scene in Cleopatra.
Photo: © 20th Century Fox Film Corporation / courtesy of Everett Collection
Richard Burton arrived in Rome in 1962 to join the cast as Marc Antony in Cleopatra. Legend has it that no sooner had he filmed his first scene with Elizabeth that the two instantly fell in love, despite the fact that they were both very much married. This began what would become known as Le Scandale, their salacious and frenzied love affair that spread like wildfire throughout the international press.
Burton quickly grew accustomed to Elizabeth’s lavish and glamorous lifestyle, and her intense love of jewelry. Born in a poor Welsh miners’ town, it gave him a particular thrill to spend a fortune on jewels that he could see gracing the neck of Elizabeth, the world’s most beautiful woman – a reminder of how far he had come from his beginnings. Burton is said to have quipped “I introduced Liz to beer, she introduced me to Bulgari.
”One of Richard and Elizabeth’s regular “hide-outs” in Rome was the private and hidden “money room” at Bulgari, where Gianni Bulgari would tempt and taunt them with the most magnificent jewels.
This emerald ring, known as the “Taylor Burton fiancée ring,” was the first gift Taylor received from Burton in 1962.
Ring in platinum with octagonal step-cut Colombian emerald (app. 7.4 cts) and
12 pear-shaped diamonds (app. 5.3 cts), ca. 1961
Brooch / pendant in platinum with octagonal step-cut emerald (23.44 cts) and diamonds, ca. 1958
Elizabeth married Richard Burton in Montreal on March 15, 1964.
Photo by Express / Getty Images
Shortly following Burton returned to Bulgari to purchase this diamond brooch with a 23.44 octagonal step-cut emerald. He gave this to Taylor upon their engagement in 1962. When they finally married in Montreal on March 15, 1964 it was the only piece of jewelry Taylor wore, the perfect symbol of their deep love and an ironic nod to Cleopatra – most emeralds used in historical jewelry were from Queen Cleopatra’s mines in Egypt.
(The brooch registered the wolrd auction record for any emerald jewel (per carat) in 2011 at Christie’s.)
Elizabeth and Richard Burton at their wedding in Montreal on March 15, 1964.
Photo La Presse
Elizabeth Taylor in Anthony Asquith’s 1963 film, The V.I.P.s.
Photo MGM / Photofest
Upon their marriage in 1964, Richard returned to Bulgari and bought Elizabeth a stunning emerald-and-diamond necklace from which the engagement brooch could be attached and worn as a pendant. Or as Elizabeth stated, “It’s like two for the price of one!”
Necklace in platinum with 16 octagonal step-cut Colombian emeralds (total app. weight 60.5 cts) and
diamonds, ca. 1962
Elizabeth was photographed wearing the entire set of emeralds all over the world, inspiring the press to refer to it as the “Grand Duchess Valdimir” suite.
Throughout the rest of her life, she continued to wear these jewels for some of her most important milestones: when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf ? in 1967; attending a masked ball in Venice in 1967; meeting her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1976; and even posing for a now famous Helmut Newton portrait of her taken in the 1980s.
Elizabeth Taylor with her award for the film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?, 1967
Photo: © Popperfoto / Grazianeri / Getty Images
Portrait photograph of Elizabeth Taylor taken by Giovanni Bozzacchi in London in 1969
Portrait of Elizabeth Taylor taken by the celebrated artist Helmut Newton in 1989 in Los Angeles
During a 2002 interview in the New York Times, Taylor recalled the generosity with which Burton used to buy her jewels and how happy it made her to choose them with him. She said, “I used to get so excited I would jump on top of him and practically make love to him in Bulgari.”
Another famous Burton quote, “The only Italian word Elizabeth knows is Bulgari.”
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton at a masked ball at the Ca’Rezzonico in Venice, September 9, 1967
Photo by Globe Photos, Inc.
1972 marked Elizabeth Taylor’s 40th birthday; to celebrate the occasion, Burton gave her this magnificent sautoir in platinum with diamonds and sapphires. The pendant, which may be detached and worn separately as a brooch, is mounted in the center with a sugar-loaf cabochon Burmese sapphire of 65 carats. Taylor wore this jewel in the 1973 film Ash Wednesday. Taylor later bought this matching Trombino ring to complement the sautoir.
Sautoir in platinum with sapphires and diamonds , ca. 1969
Trombino ring in platinum with Burmese sugar-loaf cabochon sapphire (25 cts) and diamonds, ca. 1971
Elizabeth Taylor with sapphire and diamond jewelry, Beverly Hills 1988.
Photo by Terry O’Neill/Getty Images
One of the jewels that Taylor wore most frequently during the 1970s was this diamond and gold sautoir set with six sculpted coins, ca. 1975. It was one of her favorite pieces of the decade, and photos show here wearing it both alone and layered with other necklaces, over turtlenecks and button down shirts.
Bulgari
began mounting ancient coins in jewelry in the 1960s, quickly evolving
into one of their most recognized and iconic styles.To Bulgari, revering
these relics as “precious” was the pefect way to honor the family’s
Greco-Roman heritage.
With husband, Senator John Warner
Photo La Presse
In front of Bulgari’s Via dei Condotti store in Rome in 1967.
BVLGARI & Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor’s personal jewelry collection was touted as one of the greatest ever assembled; this is partly because of the superlative quality of the collection, and partly because of our profound fascination with the woman who wore them.
In 1961 Elizabeth Taylor arrived in Rome to star as Isis, Queen of the Nile in the cinematic magnum opus Cleopatra. In Rome, this era was known as the Golden Age of cinema; the movie studio Cinecittà was located just outside of town, attracting hoards of international movie stars to the Eternal City. Bulgari’s store on the via dei Condotti – just a stone’s throw from the Spanish Steps - became the prime destination for the glitterati. This is when Taylor began to ammass her spectacular collection of Bulgari jewels.
Taylor stated that “undeniably one of the biggest advantages to filming Cleopatra in Rome was Bulgari’s shop. I used to visit Gianni Bulgari in the afternoon and we’d sit and swap stories.” It was in that very place where Elizabeth Taylor became the temporary “guardian,” as she liked to be known, of fabulous Bulgari jewels.
One of Taylor’s first Bulgari pieces was this emerald and diamond En Tremblant brooch.
Tremblant Brooch in platinum with emeralds and diamonds, ca. 1960
With Eddie Fisher in 1961
14 Oct 1961, Rome, Italy - Eddie Fisher adjusts a brooch on the shoulder of Elizabeth Taylor at
a party she gave to celebrate Kirk Douglas’ film “Spartacus” at Rome's Grand Hotel.
Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS
14 Oct 1961, Rome, Italy - Eddie Fisher adjusts a brooch on the shoulder of Elizabeth Taylor at
a party she gave to celebrate Kirk Douglas’ film “Spartacus” at Rome's Grand Hotel.
Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS
Fisher commissioned Bulgari to make this exquisite turquoise and gold mirror, dubbed the Cleopatra Mirror, especially for Elizabeth, possibly as a 30th birthday present. (Whether or not it was intended to be used in the film is unclear.) Designed in sculpted 18k gold and turquoise with Egyptian Revival motif of a bird with outstretched wings.
A snake formed part of Elizabeth Taylor’s headdress for a love scene in Cleopatra.
Photo: © 20th Century Fox Film Corporation / courtesy of Everett Collection
Richard Burton arrived in Rome in 1962 to join the cast as Marc Antony in Cleopatra. Legend has it that no sooner had he filmed his first scene with Elizabeth that the two instantly fell in love, despite the fact that they were both very much married. This began what would become known as Le Scandale, their salacious and frenzied love affair that spread like wildfire throughout the international press.
Burton quickly grew accustomed to Elizabeth’s lavish and glamorous lifestyle, and her intense love of jewelry. Born in a poor Welsh miners’ town, it gave him a particular thrill to spend a fortune on jewels that he could see gracing the neck of Elizabeth, the world’s most beautiful woman – a reminder of how far he had come from his beginnings. Burton is said to have quipped “I introduced Liz to beer, she introduced me to Bulgari.
”One of Richard and Elizabeth’s regular “hide-outs” in Rome was the private and hidden “money room” at Bulgari, where Gianni Bulgari would tempt and taunt them with the most magnificent jewels.
This emerald ring, known as the “Taylor Burton fiancée ring,” was the first gift Taylor received from Burton in 1962.
Ring in platinum with octagonal step-cut Colombian emerald (app. 7.4 cts) and
12 pear-shaped diamonds (app. 5.3 cts), ca. 1961
Brooch / pendant in platinum with octagonal step-cut emerald (23.44 cts) and diamonds, ca. 1958
Elizabeth married Richard Burton in Montreal on March 15, 1964.
Photo by Express / Getty Images
Shortly following Burton returned to Bulgari to purchase this diamond brooch with a 23.44 octagonal step-cut emerald. He gave this to Taylor upon their engagement in 1962. When they finally married in Montreal on March 15, 1964 it was the only piece of jewelry Taylor wore, the perfect symbol of their deep love and an ironic nod to Cleopatra – most emeralds used in historical jewelry were from Queen Cleopatra’s mines in Egypt.
(The brooch registered the wolrd auction record for any emerald jewel (per carat) in 2011 at Christie’s.)
Elizabeth and Richard Burton at their wedding in Montreal on March 15, 1964.
Photo La Presse
Elizabeth Taylor in Anthony Asquith’s 1963 film, The V.I.P.s.
Photo MGM / Photofest
Upon their marriage in 1964, Richard returned to Bulgari and bought Elizabeth a stunning emerald-and-diamond necklace from which the engagement brooch could be attached and worn as a pendant. Or as Elizabeth stated, “It’s like two for the price of one!”
Necklace in platinum with 16 octagonal step-cut Colombian emeralds (total app. weight 60.5 cts) and
diamonds, ca. 1962
Elizabeth was photographed wearing the entire set of emeralds all over the world, inspiring the press to refer to it as the “Grand Duchess Valdimir” suite.
Throughout the rest of her life, she continued to wear these jewels for some of her most important milestones: when she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf ? in 1967; attending a masked ball in Venice in 1967; meeting her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 1976; and even posing for a now famous Helmut Newton portrait of her taken in the 1980s.
Elizabeth Taylor with her award for the film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?, 1967
Photo: © Popperfoto / Grazianeri / Getty Images
Portrait photograph of Elizabeth Taylor taken by Giovanni Bozzacchi in London in 1969
Portrait of Elizabeth Taylor taken by the celebrated artist Helmut Newton in 1989 in Los Angeles
During a 2002 interview in the New York Times, Taylor recalled the generosity with which Burton used to buy her jewels and how happy it made her to choose them with him. She said, “I used to get so excited I would jump on top of him and practically make love to him in Bulgari.”
Another famous Burton quote, “The only Italian word Elizabeth knows is Bulgari.”
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton at a masked ball at the Ca’Rezzonico in Venice, September 9, 1967
Photo by Globe Photos, Inc.
1972 marked Elizabeth Taylor’s 40th birthday; to celebrate the occasion, Burton gave her this magnificent sautoir in platinum with diamonds and sapphires. The pendant, which may be detached and worn separately as a brooch, is mounted in the center with a sugar-loaf cabochon Burmese sapphire of 65 carats. Taylor wore this jewel in the 1973 film Ash Wednesday. Taylor later bought this matching Trombino ring to complement the sautoir.
Sautoir in platinum with sapphires and diamonds , ca. 1969
Trombino ring in platinum with Burmese sugar-loaf cabochon sapphire (25 cts) and diamonds, ca. 1971
Elizabeth Taylor with sapphire and diamond jewelry, Beverly Hills 1988.
Photo by Terry O’Neill/Getty Images
One of the jewels that Taylor wore most frequently during the 1970s was this diamond and gold sautoir set with six sculpted coins, ca. 1975. It was one of her favorite pieces of the decade, and photos show here wearing it both alone and layered with other necklaces, over turtlenecks and button down shirts.
With husband, Senator John Warner
Photo La Presse
In front of Bulgari’s Via dei Condotti store in Rome in 1967.
Press Release
This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2013-02-27 11:21:29
Locked
login to reply
Elizabeth Taylor Exhibition is on display at the Bulgari store in Los Angeles, Rodeo Drive
The Elizabeth Taylor Exhibition is on display at the Bulgari store in Los Angeles, Rodeo Drive and will be open to the public from now through to March 10th and will showcase the actress’s longstanding love affair with Bulgari and the wonderful pieces own...
