Taj Mahal Necklace to Be Sold as Elizabeth Taylor’s Trust, Christie’s Settle Suit



Taylor’s trust filed suit against the auction house in February

The Elizabeth Taylor Charitable Trust and Christie’s auction house have settled their lawsuit, and as a result Taylor’s fabled Taj Mahal diamond will again be sold.

The settlement, detailed in a Dec. 8 letter to Judge Louis Stanton, calls for the two parties to work together to resell the diamond and ruby necklace, said to be more than 400 years old. If the attempt is unsuccessful, the suit may be refiled.

Taylor’s trust sued the auction house in February, in a dispute stemming from the Christie’s 2011 record-setting four-day auction of the actress’s storied jewel collection. While the overall sale raised $181 million, the buyer of the Taj Mahal necklace canceled the $8.8 million sale, claiming it did not belong to a Mughal emperor, as billed. The trustees argued they never made that claim, and Christie’s should not have accepted the cancellation.

The Cartier-designed ruby necklace was given to Taylor in 1972 by her husband at the time, Richard Burton. The $8.8 million hammer price was 20 times its estimate.

(Photo courtesy of Christie’s)

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