The Krupp Diamond

More than Liz and Dick…

One can discuss which one of Elizabeth Taylor’s diamonds were the most famous. Was it The Taylor–Burton Diamond – 68 carat, flawless, pear shaped and brilliant cut so often seen around her exquisite neck? Or was it The Krupp? I put my money on the latter. Even though “tiny” in this context, that diamond is a stunner!

The diamond; which was renamed The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond after the actress’ death in 2011; is an Asscher cut diamond. A report from Gemological Institute of America (dated May 9th 2011) tells us that the stone is a 33,19 carat, Asscher cut, D colour, VS1 clarity diamond that weighs 6,638 grams. A supplemental letter from GIA also states that the diamond has been determined to be a Type IIa diamond. That is, a very chemically pure type of diamond which often has an exceptional optical transparency.

Because the stone has a culet face, it was probably cut before the 1920s, after which this cut became more uncommon.
Since the Kupp diamond has a slightly more rectangular cut than a more “normal” Asscher square cut, sometimes the term “Krupp cut” can be used a bit loosely.

A diamond in the raw

We don’t know much about the diamond until it came into the possession of the German industrial family Krupp.
It has been said that it could have its origin either in the South African Jagersfontein Mine or the Indian Golconda mine. Because Asscher cut stones (diamonds with a large open culet and rectangular shaped corners) began to be phased out after the 1920s, experts believe that the stone was carved out from a mine around that time.

It does not appear to be clear how the diamond came into ownership of the Krupp family. However what we do know, is that Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach gave the diamond to his then wife Vera Krupp during their brief marriage in the fifties.

In 1948, at the Krupp Trial after the Second World War, Alfried Krupp was sentenced to 12 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity but was, after only three years, pardoned by the US High Commissioner in West Germany, John J. McCloy.
Already in 1952, only a year after his release, he married Vera Hossenfeld, a German actress and socialite – a marriage that ended in 1957. After a very public divorce Vera Krupp, who had become a naturalized U.S. citizen already in 1947, took her divorce settlement and moved to The Spring Mountain Ranch outside Las Vegas which she bought in 1955.

The heist

Vera Krupp lived a happy and sociable life on Spring Mountain Ranch but on April 10, 1959 three men forced their way into the main house when Vera and her foreman Harold Brotherson ate dinner. The men stole Vera’s large diamond ring right off her finger. The robbers then blindfolded and tied up the pair with a wire from a lamp before leaving the ranch.

The robbery seemed to have been meticulously planned but to sell this kind of an enormously large and unique stone turned out to be bit of a nightmare. No jeweller would buy it. Quite a few was offered the stone but all of them informed the police.

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After six weeks, during which the FBI tracked the criminal’s whereabouts across the US, it turned out that James George Reves was the thief, who had the stone. He hid in a motel in Elizabeth, New Jersey with his wife, when one of the fences he approached turned out to be a FBI informant. This led to that FBI agents raided the couple’s motel room where they found The Krupp in the lining of a coat belonging to Reves.

On November 20, 1959, James George Reves and his accomplices were found guilty to either have planned or have taken part in the robbery.

The ring was returned to Vera Krupp and she continued to wear it until her death in 1967. However, the robbery made her a tiny bit more vigilant and it was reported that she now sometimes wore the ring attached to her bra with a safety pin. She kept her diamond close, but no-one could see it.

All the world’s a stage

Entering the stage, the rich and world famous Welsh Hollywood-actor, Richard Burton. In a bidding war against, amongst others, Harry Winston he bought the ring for $307 000 (sometimes given as $305 000). At the time the highest price ever paid, at an auction, for a diamond ring.

This was during Richard Burton’s first (out of two) marriages to Elizabeth Taylor and on their yacht Kalizma, anchored on the Thames, Burton gave the ring to her as a gift.
Considering that the stone used to be owned by a family involved in the Nazi atrocities, Elizabeth Taylor is said to have said:

“I thought how perfect it would be if a nice Jewish girl like me were to own it.”

(Unclear when she said this and in what exact context.)

When you got it-flaunt it!

Even if one mentions all her classic movies, her almost incomprehensible beauty or her many marriages the Elizabeth Taylor story would not be full if one does not mention her incredible collection of jewellery. She wore both The Krupp Diamond and other pieces from her vast collection in movies, on television appearances and many photo shoots.

Taylor seems to have been totally comfortable with this image of herself. In 1993 when she guest-starred as herself in the The Simpsons, she let the animators make fun of it. The Elizabeth-Taylor-cartoon-version has the big jewel ring on her finger at all times. She does lots of household chores with The Krupp on her finger, like polishing her Oscar award. She then cleans the diamond, to full glory, with a toothbrush.

A record sale

After Elizabeth Taylor death, her jewellery collection was auctioned at Christie’s on 13-14 December 2011, by her estate. The auction house renamed the diamond to The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond and it sold for $8 818 500 including buyer’s premium. It was sold to the South Korean retail conglomerate E-Land. This amount set a record price per carat ($265 697) for a colourless diamond.

Around 268 jewellery pieces from her collection were sold and the money from the sale – a total of $137 235 575, a world record set for a private jewellery collection – went into the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS foundation that supports different charities and medical research.

You will find the jewellery auctions, including The Krupp Diamond, here:
The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor: The Legendary Jewels, Evening Sale (I)
The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor: Jewelry (II)

So where is the famous stone now? Hidden away in a boring South Korean safe? Who knows, but the world is a bit more boring without it…