Girls need diamonds
everywhere, jewellery is not just something that’s nice to have. It’s essential. “Big girls need big diamonds,” declared Elizabeth Taylor – and who’s to argue with her? The late, great movie star and dedicated AIDS activist was almost as famous for her jewellery collection as she was for her marriages, her myriad health crises, and her appearances in Hollywood blockbusters in the 1950s and 60s.
Taylor was born to wealthy parents and collected jewellery all her life. She owned several notable pieces, such as the 33.19K Krupp Diamond, the 69.42K Taylor- Burton Diamond and the 50K La Peregrina Pearl. The last was once owned by Mary I of England, and all three were gifts from husband Richard Burton, her co-star in in 1963. The actress published a book about her collection in 2002. After her death in 2011, her jewellery and fashion pieces were auctioned by Christie’s to benefit her AIDS foundation. The jewellery sold for a record- breaking US$ 156.8 million, with Bulgari re-acquiring seven of its finest designs.
In an exclusive interview for our “Bling Issue”, Lucia Silvestri, Bulgari’s Jewellery Creative Director, refers to Taylor’s warm relationship with the great Italian jeweller. When in Rome and under siege from the paparazzi, Liz and Richard would use the Bulgari Condotti store as a hide- out. Her husband once quipped: “The only word Liz knows in Italian is Bulgari.”
Elsewhere in this issue, we meet more experts from the world of bling: Giorgio Damiani, who with his siblings runs the only international jewellery company to be still in the hands of the family of the founder; Francois Delage, CEO of De Beers Diamond Jewellers; Jean- Bernard Forot, Jewellery Marketing Director of Piaget; and Caric Hon, CEO of Larry Jewellery.
Among the glamorous beauties we photographed and interviewed for this special issue are Selly Wilson, dripping with gold and diamond jewellery by the house of Cartier, and Naarah Joesoef, who models some of the new season’s most covetable jewellery collections.
Last, but absolutely by no means least, we somehow managed to persuade three busy young executives – sisters Putri, Mita and Dita Soedarjo of the MRA Group – to find time to be photographed and interviewed together for our Cover Story. From Bulgari jewellery to fast Ferraris, and glossy magazines to children’s charities, the siblings are certainly making their mark in business and philanthropy.
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