Iconic movie star and Hollywood legend Elizabeth Taylor passed away at the age of 77, and although she was most well known for her movies and marriages, her love of diamonds has long been documented.
Her perfume, some say the first in the long line of celebrity brand fragrances and still one of the best-selling perfumes of all time, was aptly named ‘White Diamonds, ‘ and the giant 69 carat Pear shaped diamond given to her by ex-husband Richard Burton, was even renamed The Taylor-Burton diamond.
Many have remembered her for her glamour this past week, including friend and designer Lorraine Schwartz, who shared with PEOPLE that no matter how ill Taylor felt, she still made sure to sparkle.
“She was like, ‘I don’t feel good, my hair is dirty but I’m wearing my bracelet.’ I mean, fabulous,” Schwartz said.
So fabulous in fact, that it is rumored that Christie’s auction house will be auctioning off her collection of jewels, estimated to be worth up to $150 million collectively, Sometime in the future.
Schwartz also shared that in order to make her happy, movie studio’s often gifted her with jewels, so she began collecting at an early age.
The estimated worth of the collection is undoubtedly high thanks to her name and reputation, however according to Luxury Jewels of Beverly Hills President, Peter Sedghi, it is also due to its quality as well.
“She had the most amazing eye,” Sedghi told PEOPLE. “To be honest, she knew more than I did. When you would show her stones, she would tell you the origin, if it’s good quality, bad quality, where it came from.”
And although Sedghi shared that Taylor had a collection unlike any he had seen before, for her it meant more than just diamonds and gemstone.
“She knew exactly what every one was, what the diamonds were; the quality,” Sedghi shared. “But it was more for her; it was … the history behind it. A lot of them had sentimental value.”
But of all her jewels, it was the 33-carat Krupp diamond given to her by her fifth and sixth husband, Richard Burton, that Taylor was said to cherish the most.
Christie’s has yet to comment on whether the upcoming auction’s rumors are true, but her passing last week has left many wondering what will happen to the collection of jewels that served as a timeline of her memorable life.