Diamond Taj Mahal
A massive heart-shaped diamond with Farsi inscriptions has become perhaps the most exotic piece of jewelry in Elizabeth’s collection. And yes, this stone is directly related to the famous mausoleum in India. It is believed that in the 17th century this decoration belonged to the padishah of the Baburid Empire Shah Jahan, who received it from his father and then presented it to his most beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal (it was in her memory that the Taj Mahal was built).
The Cartier jewelry house acquired the stone at the beginning of the 20th century, placing it in a massive frame of gold and rubies. The golden “lace” deserves special attention jewelers wanted to achieve the maximum resemblance to silk.
This jewelry, as you might guess, was also acquired for Elizabeth by Richard Burton, who later joked that he would like to give his wife the Taj Mahal itself, but it would be too difficult to transport it to the USA. This diamond is now also known as Taylor’s Heart. After her death, it was sold at Christie’s auction to a private collector for more than $ 8 million. However, after a while the buyer decided to challenge the purchase, stating that in fact this diamond did not belong to Shah Jahan, but Christie’s … unexpectedly went to the client to meet.
Since then, the auction house has been suing Elizabeth Taylor’s trust, which, however, claims that Chrisitie’s had no right to advertise the diamond as the property of Indian monarchs, since no one gave guarantees of this. So does the stone really have that romantic story that was prevalent during Elizabeth’s lifetime? The question remains open.
Read also: Elizabeth Taylor’s Royal Jewels
