The Elizabeth Taylor Jewelry and Diamond Collection , valued at $145 million, will tour the world for three months before going to auction at Christie’s on December 13. The tour will span seven major cities—Moscow, Los Angeles, London, Geneva, Paris, Hong Kong, and Dubai. Proceeds of the auction will go to the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

 
Taylor, a Hollywood legend known for her love of diamonds and her pioneering efforts in raising AIDS awareness, died last March in Los Angeles at age 79. Her net worth was estimated at about $1 billion at the time of her death. Her jewelry had been valued at $150 million in 2002.

"[This collection] will bring us closer to the essence of Elizabeth Taylor's unique spirit, and promises to inspire admiration, delight, and at times, sheer wonder, in all who come to see it," said Marc Porter, the president of Christie's.

Highlights of the auction will include a ruby and diamond Cartier necklace and a 33.19-carat Asscher-cut  diamond and  La Peregrina pearl given to Taylor by husband Richard Burton. Also up for sale is the Taj-Mahal, a heart-shaped diamond Burton gave Taylor for her 40th birthday in 1972.  "Diamonds are an investment. When people no longer want to see Liz and I on the screen, then we can sell off a few baubles,” said Burton.

Some of the jewels scheduled for auction were exhibited in 2003 to promote Taylor’s book: My Love Affair with Jewelry .Other items on the block are clothing, film memorabilia, and decorative art. The exhibit will not include the famous 69.42-carat Taylor-Burton Diamond, however, which Taylor auctioned in 1978 for $5,000,000, using the proceeds to build a hospital in Botswana. .

The tour will culminate in New York, in Christie’s Rockefeller Center gallery, where the auction will be held in mid-December in time for Christmas. The public exhibition of the jewels prior to auction is expected to draw thousands of visitors.

“This collection of her many cherished possessions will bring us closer to the essence of Elizabeth Taylor's unique spirit, and promises to inspire admiration, delight and, at times, sheer wonder in all who come to see it,” said Porter