Jewelry has always mesmerized, decorated and inspired for centuries, and dazzling jewelry collections have often adorned the world's most famous women. Here we look at three of the 20th century's most memorable ladies and the jewelry that is often associated with them:
Jackie Kennedy's Pearls
Decades before Jackie Kennedy (later Onassis) became the First Lady of the United States, Coco Chanel was already making pearls the must-have fashion statement in Europe. As the First Lady would later say, "Pearls are always appropriate."
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Throughout her time as First Lady, Jackie was rarely seen without her three-strand pearl necklace, which added a touch of timeless elegance to her already chic style. While everyone believed these pearls were real, it wasn't until the 1996 Sotheby's sale of her estate that they were revealed to be faux pearls, purchased by Jackie at Bergdorf Goodman in New York for just $35 in the 1950s.
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However, it seemed everyone wanted a piece of the Jackie O mystique. Her estate auction totaled $34 million across four days, with the faux pearls selling for a shocking $211,500. Only Jackie could make fake pearls fetch those figures.
Elizabeth Taylor's Emeralds
Elizabeth Taylor was the undisputed Queen of Green. Taylor's jewelry collection was unrivaled during the 20th century and well into the 21st century. At Christie's in 2011, the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor sale took place in New York, realizing an incredible total of $123.7 million.
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Her love of emeralds was on clear display during the sale, which featured many pieces designed by Bulgari. One of the shimmering highlights of the sale was a pair of Bulgari emerald and diamond earrings, which Taylor received as a gift from Richard Burton. Taylor wore the earrings to important events in her life, including the Paris premiere of Lawrence of Arabia and to greet the Queen during her state visit to Washington in 1976. Also from Bulgari and a gift from Burton was a diamond flower brooch studded with emeralds that she was photographed wearing in her hair in 1963.
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Another emerald Bulgari creation given to her by her husband she wore with her yellow wedding dress when she married Burton (for the first time) in 1964 after meeting the previous year on the set of Cleopatra.
Audrey Hepburn's Yellow Diamond
The legend of the Tiffany Yellow is almost as synonymous with the jewelry house as the Little Blue Box. The famed yellow diamond was discovered in South Africa in 1877. At 287.42 carats, it is one of the largest canary yellow diamonds to have ever been mined. Charles Tiffany acquired it for $18,000 and had it cut in Paris by Tiffany’s gemologist, George Kunz, in 1879 into a cushion shape of 128.54 carats.
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The massive jewel became famous in 1961 when it was worn by Audrey Hepburn in publicity photographs for Breakfast at Tiffany’s. It was set in a ribbon necklace designed by Jean Schlumberger and worn with the iconic Givenchy "little black dress."
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The Tiffany Yellow has only ever been worn by three other women: Mrs. E. Sheldon Whitehouse at a 1957 Tiffany Ball, Lady Gaga in 2019 for the Academy Awards and Beyonce for a Tiffany & Co. campaign in 2021. Today, the yellow diamond is estimated at $30 million.
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This is an updated version of the article originally published on January 19, 2017.