Elizabeth Taylor and Mike Todd - What A Guy!

If you can believe it, Kim Kardashian's engagement ring wasn't the biggest ever given.  Back in 1956, Mike Todd gave Elizabeth Taylor a 29.4 carat emerald cut diamond engagement ring, or as Liz referred to it, "my ice skating rink."

There's a lot of information out there that says Mike Todd may have been the love of Liz Taylor's life and it's said she continued to wear his wedding ring after his death.  Removed from the wreckage of the plane crash that killed him in 1958, Liz wore the twisted and charred ring on her right hand throughout her marriage to Eddie Fisher.   This did not bode well for their relationship...it lasted less than five years. 

Mike Todd certainly seemed to be the man who started her love affair with jewelry.  After the engagement ring in 1956, the following year he gave Taylor this antique Cartier tiara which Liz wore often.  Today, valued at $60,000-$80,000,  it is among items included in the Christie's auction this December.

Taylor at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival looking queenly and stuff.

Taylor was wearing this tiara poolside when Todd gave her the ruby and diamond suite pictured below. 

Soon after the tiara, Todd gave her the infamous ruby and diamond Cartier necklace, earrings and bracelet suite.  According to reports, Liz was already wearing the tiara in the pool when he gave her the suite - that's one reason to never have to put your head in the water.  Also included in the upcoming Christie's auction, the suite is valued at $500,000-$600,000.

Taylor originally saw these earrings made in "paste" (not real) in a jewelry boutique on Place Vendome in Paris and loved them so much she purchased them even though they were not made with diamonds.  Some months later she went to put them on and noticed a difference.  They looked clean and bright - and were heavier than she remembered.  When she asked Todd about them, he replied that he had them remade...this time with real diamonds.  Mike Todd was rully, rully good at understanding the little things that make women happy.

Todd treated Taylor like a queen in the short time they had together.  In 1958, he was killed along with three others in a fiery plane crash in New Mexico.  Liz was almost on that plane but wound up staying home with a cold.  Identified through dental records, according to Eddie Fisher (one of Todd's best friends), all that remained were Todd's wedding ring and a pair of platinum cuff links Fisher had given him.

In a ghoulish aside, almost twenty years after Todd's death, his grave was desecrated by thieves looking for a diamond ring Taylor reportedly placed in his casket before his burial.  A bag with Todd's remains (bone and ash) was located under a nearby tree.  He was later reinterred in an undisclosed location.

Where Do Chocolate Diamonds Come From?

Post-colonoscopy photo.  I wonder who had to...?

Chocolate diamonds are becoming very popular. Did you ever wonder how they were made? Well, for one, they come from Spain and this how it goes: Two women walk into a restaurant in a luxury resort in Spain. One puts her handbag on the floor, and they proceed to have dinner.

Soon, two men enter the room, one sits at the bar and the other at a table next to the women. The men leave and the woman soon discovers her handbag is missing and, along with it, 2000 euros, 400 pounds sterling, a mobile phone, a diamond pendant worth 12,000 euros ($16,500), plus some other insignificant fuzzballs from the bottom of her bag. Now girls, I know you are on vacation, but one can never let one's handbag out of one's sight, especially if one is carrying that kind of booty in it.

A few hours later four men were stopped at a checkpoint and police found the woman's handbag in the car. Everything was recovered except the diamond. The police saw one of the men put his hand to his mouth...hmmmm, they thought?  Did he just swallow that diamond? X-rays showed the stone in his stomach and, of course, police had to let nature take its course to recover the gem. And that's how chocolate diamonds are made.

The Golden Eye Diamond - Auction Update

A quick departure from Elizabeth Taylor to bring you this update on The Golden Eye diamond auction results. This rare and exquisite stone was expected to bring anywhere from $3 million to $20 million dollars at auction, but I guess the economy is a little tough for everybody as the final price fell short of expectations. Selling for just $2.8 million dollars, the new owners of the Golden Eye are a semi-retired Ohio couple, Jerre and Donah Hentosh. Prepared to spend as much as $7 million dollars for the diamond, Mr. Hentosh placed an online bid for the diamond thinking he would never win. It was his first online purchase. Yeah...that's what happens when I put things in my fake shopping carts too, but it's usually a bra and a pair of panties in there.

Actually, Mr. Hentosh is a pretty smart business man. A very successful home builder, he and his wife opened Gold and Silver, Ltd. back in 1979 to carry them over when the construction business was hit hard by the recession. Mr. Hentosh knows that when times are tough, people tend to sell their personal property to make a little extra cash. According to him, "it's a good business to be in for a short time." The Hentosh's are not sure what they will do with the stone...keep it or sell it.  But for now, they've made the ultimate Internet purchase.

Bid4Assets, the online auction house that hosted the sale, started the bidding on September 6th. Bidding remained slow until the last day, September 8th. Sixteen bids were submitted in the last minutes of the auction, nine of which Mr. Hentosh claimed were his. Mr. Hentosh has learned the hard way that you must only click once at check out time.

Mr. Hentosh is on the left.

Elizabeth Taylor's Jewels

Who will carry the next jewelry torch? Is there someone out there who loves jewelry as much, or has amassed the level of important pieces, as Elizabeth Taylor? Wallis Simpson?  Even Joan Crawford had a respectable Agnes Moorehead-looking jewelry collection for god sake. Kim Kardashian may have a 20 carat diamond engagement ring, but she doesn't strike me as the type to have the insight that Liz and Dick had to acquire some of the most historically significant jewels of the world.  Madonna has purchased some pieces previously owned by Wallis Simpson, but jewelry looks better on a woman, not an aging rat terrier.

Liz Taylor by Richard Avedon

Today's celebrities are really cheesy in the way they beg, borrow, or steal the fabulous jewels they are seen wearing on the red carpet. They are wealthy, but apparently not the kind of wealthy that allows them to buy and wear Van Cleef & Arpels or Bulgari on a regular basis. However, it does appear to be a symbiotic relationship between the stars and the designers who need celebrities to help them establish their name. Are there no new designers out there who have enough confidence in their stuff to put their stuff out there for the sake of their own stuff? Does every new designer need a celebrity name behind them in order to get started, let alone survive? As I grow more and more tired of celebrity entitlement, I long for a true designer (jewelry or clothing) who can rest on their laurels alone.

Liz ignoring the rule... put all your jewelry on and then remove one piece.

Liz, Wallis, and Jackie were the last of a fine breed of American women who lived a life my generation is not familiar with. The uber-jewel collections have migrated to the Asian, Russian, and Middle Eastern communities (not including the Royals, who really don't own any of it - they just host it) because that is where the wealth is today. Enjoy ladies! Protect those sparkles, and like Liz said, "I am fortunate to have some very important pieces of jewelry. I don't believe I own any of the pieces. I believe that I am their custodian, here to enjoy them, to give them the best treatment in the world, to watch after their safety, and to love them."

Elizabeth Taylor's Jewels Go To Auction

For those amongst us who truly covet the beautiful gems of the world and the back stories of those who owned them, get ready because some of the most magnificent jewelry in the world are about to be recycled. From Cartier and Van Cleef and Arpels to JAR and Bulgari, this December, Christie's will auction Elizabeth Taylor's complete jewelry collection, estimated to be worth 30 million dollars or more. Christie's will also auction a group of Taylor's better costume jewelry along with some of her clothes, which seems a little Skelator to me; however, as we all know, there is a market for everything. Over the next few weeks I'll look a little more closely at Liz's jewels and the stories behind them.

One of her most memorable jewels is the Krupp diamond, now known as the "Elizabeth Taylor Diamond," which Richard Burton bought for her in 1968 for $305,000. At that time, this was the highest price ever paid for a diamond at auction. An Ascher cut diamond, weighing 33.19 carats of D, VS1 magnificence, today the diamond is valued at between $2,500,000 - $3,000,000.

Previously owned by Vera Krupp von Bohlen und Halback, wife of the German industrialist, Alfried Krupp, etc., etc., the diamond was auctioned after Vera's death. There is a somewhat creepy background to the stone as Alfried was a key supplier of weapons and material to the Nazis during World War II.  Krupp's insistence on using slave labor taken directly from the concentration camps, even when free German labor was offered from the government, resulted in his trial and ultimate three year imprisonment after the war. 

The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, 33.19 carats, D Color, potentially Internally Flawless.
Gift from Richard Burton, May 16, 1968.
Eat your heart out Kim Kardashian.

Lorraine Schwartz Opens Exclusive Boutique in Bergdorf's

Elusive Lorraine Schwartz

Hot on the heels of Kim Kardashian's amazing wedding jewelry, and along with Beyonce, Angelina, and Jennifer's incredible sparkles, Lorraine Schwartz has opened an exclusive boutique in New York's fabulous little jewel, Bergdorf Goodman.

Schwartz told Women's Wear Daily, "The boutique is the only place where you can see my entire collection," which includes, Against Evil Eye, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil Monkeys, and 2BHappy.

Bergdorf's has hosted many of Schwartz's little beauties for years now but made the decision to open dedicated real estate due to the need for extra space, which they will need in case Kim Kardashian's ass ever shows up for an event.  Bergdorf's is a small store as you know...

18 carats and worth $5 million dollars to get married, I wonder what Beyonce's push gift will be???

Are You A "Just Becauser?"....The New Jewelry Customer

Assorted Ippolita 18K bangles.  Starting at $695.

You've got a great job. You've worked hard, and over the years you've pushed other bitches out of the way...I mean you've snarled your way up the ladder of success. Along your star-studded path you've recognized important achievements with a nice piece of David Yurman jewelry, or maybe a Hermes handbag. When you scrutinize the Neiman Marcus website, picking out all the things you love, you see a beautiful pair of Christian Louboutins, and your feet start to itch, you have to have them so bad. Without a thought, you click, click, click those little red-soled gems into your authentic shopping cart, not the imaginary one that most people keep when they fake shop. You're used to treating yourself with nice things... because you can.

Heidi Mitchell, in her recent The Wall Street Journal article, "Jewelry Waits For No Man: Buy It For Yourself," notes how Mintel, a market research firm, identifies women who shop like this as a growing and important segment of high end buyers known as "Just Becausers." These are women, able to make exclusive purchases for themselves, just because. Because they want it, they think they need it, and most importantly, they can afford it. They are a professional women, age 45 and up, and last year, 59% of the purchases made by this group were for no particular reason.

It is exactly this logic that needs to be embraced by the jewelry industry. The industry has historically targeted a male market, and men generally only buy for some type of specific reason like an anniversary, birthday, or new baby, and, as men do, they apply way too much logic when making a purchase, especially a big one like jewelry. Most men buy jewelry like they buy a hammer at the Home Depot. Lots of dumb questions, like "what is the resale value of this ring?" or "where are diamonds made?" or "can my wife return it if she doesn't like it?" Do these analytical questions really have any bearing on the fact that  when you see a piece of jewelry that would look beautiful on your significant other and you can afford it, what's the big frigging deal?  Just buy it.

The jewelry industry is an old business and change took a long time. Back in the 90's, many of the smaller vendors we did business with were not even computerized. I remember visiting a vendor who pulled out samples that were wrapped in Kleenex tissues and stored in old shoe boxes.  Everything in his business was stored in his head. This would be tough for most of us if we were in our 80's (like this man) but he had a mind like a fox snare. Keeping with this attitude, much of the industry still designs for men who buy for women...not women who buy for themselves. If they were smart, they would start changing their direction toward this new trend.

H. Stern 18K YG Small Love Knot Earrings.  $2600

Some smart designers like Ippolita,  H. Stern and Ivanka Trump, have taken note.  They see that women think of jewelry as an extension of their wardrobe, not necessarily a reward for getting laid last night (well, maybe). These designers recognize that women want quality, but also want quantity...because they have the money.

Ivanka Trump - assorted rings.  Starting at $725.

But women are also being smart with their money in these tough times and many are turning to eBay, Gilt, and a growing number of designer consignment shops that resell gently used, authentic designer products for up to half, or less, than retail. Many women have purchased enough designer goods to spot a fake, and feel confident to shop on these sites, or if they feel insecure about this, many shops pride themselves on having the expertise to do this for you.  Align yourselves with a good one, like Bella Tutto, and you can save a ton of dough.