“When people say, ‘She’s got everything’, I’ve got one answer – I haven’t had tomorrow.”
– Elizabeth Taylor (1932 – 2011)
The Peregrina pearl First discovered in 1513 off the Pearl Islands in the Gulf of Panama and finding its way to the Spanish crown jewels, gifted to Queen Mary I of England and a subsequently returned to Spain where it would remain for 250 years, then possessed by Thomas Bonaparte, Napoleon’s brother with whom it would travel to France… No wonder this legendary pearl was called Peregrina – the wanderer. The pearl that we are talking about is a large pear-shaped shaped beauty now weighing 2o3.8 grains. Till date, it remains the largest ever pear-shaped pearl found naturally. After years of wandering, the pearl found its way into the collection of an English duke, from whom Richard Burton purchased it in 1969 for his wife Elizabeth Taylor, the woman who, despite her wise words above, actually did have everything that other women coveted.
Elizabeth Taylor wearing the Peregrina, suspended from a necklace
Liz had the pearl set into a beautiful, elaborate ruby and diamond necklace. In 2005 Taylor loaned it to the Smithsonian institution for their “The Allure of Pearls” exhibition.
