Elizabeth Taylor's wedding bands sell for $1m
Christie's two-day auction of Elizabeth Taylor's jewels raises
over $137 million. Highlights of the second day's sale are the
Burton Wedding Bands that fetched $1 million after a 15
minute bidding battle between a buyer in the room and a phone
bidder. The pre-sale estimate for these diamond bands was $6-8,000
showing just how sought after are the jewels belonging to the late
actress.
The wedding bands, like all of Elizabeth Taylor's jewellery, had
a story to tell. She was given them by Richard Burton on the
occassion of her two marriages to him, first in 1964 and then in
1975. The idea of owning a jewel loaded with romance and belonging
to perhaps one of the most famous couples on earth drove bidding
far beyond expections.
The two auctions represent the most valuable sale of jewellery
in auction history, outsripping expectations and the Duchess of
Windsor's sale last year. François Curiel, Interrnational Director
of Jewelry at Christie's said: "The spectacular results of the
Evening Sale of Elizabeth Taylor's iconic jewels sparked a surge of
interest from collectors around the world. It took eight hours and
three auctioneers to sell 190 more jewels from Elizabeth Taylor's
storied collection.The atmosphere was electric from the very first
to the last lot, with collectors from Asia, the Middle East, Europe
and America chasing each individual jewel with a tenacity never
seen before. All the jewels offered greatly exceeded their
estimates, sometimes by much as a hundred times. This brings
the total value of Miss Taylor''s jewelry collection to $ 137.2
million and sets a new record for the largest jewelry sale ever
presented at auction."
Marc Porter, Chairman of Christie's Americas, said of the sales:
"We are humbled and gratified by these results which are a
testament to the public's overwhelming affection for Elizabeth
Taylor and her incredible legacy. The sale of Miss Taylor and
Richard Burton's wedding bands for over $1 million after an epic
16-minute bidding war was a fitting grand finale to the live
auction portion of this amazing jewelry collection. We look
forward to more great results this week, as the auctions continue
with sales of Elizabeth Taylor's fashion, accessories, decorative
arts and memorabilia collections."
