Sunday, June 10, 2007

Burton-Taylor Diamond ... You can own something similar : )

Want to read a love story that will last through the ages? Read about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. A love story that is legendary. Everyone has heard about the legendary Diamond Burton bought Taylor.

"By the far the best known of Richard Burton's purchases was the 69.42-carat pear-shape, later to be called the Taylor-Burton Diamond. It was cut from a rough stone weighing 240.80 carats found in the Premier Mine in 1966 and subsequently bought by Harry Winston. Here there is a coincidence: Eight years before, another cleavage of almost identical weight (240.74 carats) had been found in the Premier. Harry Winston bought this stone too, commenting at the time, "I don't think there have been half a dozen stones in the world of this quality." This wouldn't be the first time the Premier Mine would have the last word because the 69.42-carat gem cut from the later discovery is a D-color Flawless stone.

After the rough piece of 240.80 carats arrived in New York, Harry Winston and his cleaver, Pastor Colon Jr. studied it for six months. Markings were made, erased and redrawn to show where the stone could be cleaved. There came the day appointed for the cleaving, and in this instance the usual tension that surrounds such an operation was increased by the heat and glare of the television lights that had been allowed into the workroom. After he had cleaved the stone, the 50-year-old cleaver said nothing -- he reached across the workbench for the piece of diamond that had seperated from it and looked at it through his horn-rimmed glasses for a fraction of a second before exclaiming "Beautiful!" This piece of rough weighed 78 carats was expected to yield a stone of about 24 carats, while the large piece, weighing 162 carats, was destined to produce a pear shape whose weight had originally been expected to be about 75 carats." (Source)

Although it's not "the" diamond that Elizabeth Taylor wears; I came across this gorgeous necklace (which can easily be worn with your wedding gown or evening gown later) and is alot less expensive .... but still grand looking. And I just had to put it up on the site.



Vintage Taylor Burton CZ Necklace - PRE-ORDER
- $ 299.00
Pre-Order Item Orders placed at this time will be fulfilled in the order they are received. Customer service will keep you advised of your order status and you will not be charged until the item ships. Read all about the story behind Elizabeth Taylor's famous necklace here! Relive the classic age of Hollywood film in this necklace reminiscent of a vintage Taylor Burton diamond. Compare this vintage cz necklace to the jewelry Elizabeth Taylor sported in the 1950s. The pear shaped cubic zirconium is so large we literally had to hit the book to calculate the amount of carats (7ct); pear cut czs simply don’t come this big! This replica estate piece is made of sterling silver and weighs 50 grams. The sterling silver necklace measures 457mm (18 inches) long and is surrounded by pear shaped czs.

If you are a sucker for "love" the Burton and Taylor romance is worth reading about. One book to read is titled simply "Elizabeth".
One such site worth looking at is Virtual Villarta which tells how Richard Burton The Night of the Iguana first came to Puerto Vallarta in 1963 as part of the cast of the movie "The Night of the Iguana" He played a boozy defrocked minister trying to hang on to a shred of self-respect. It was here that he and Elizabeth Taylor's love affair first came to light. After the pair married, they bought houses in Gringo Gulch and stayed for several years.

Elizabeth Taylor is possibly the most famous of all celebrities to live in Puerto Vallarta. Vallarta was put on the world scene when she accompanied her lover Richard Burton, while still married to Eddie Fisher, to a small fishing village on the coast of Mexico where he was filming "
The Night of the Iguana

Their subsequent decades long torrid romance still echoes through the narrow alleys of
Gringo
Gulch
where they bought houses across the street from one another and linked them with a pink bridge. Gringo Gulch was home to the original colony of Norteamericanos in Puerto Vallarta.

This steep ravine in the middle of town is known for its "gringo" villas, the most famous of which is Casa kimberly,
Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's love nest.

These colonial-style homes of Gringo Gulch border the
Cuale River at the foot of the mountains and are set along steep narrow alleys.Casa Kimberly still exists and is now open to tours.

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