The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, also known as the Krupp Diamond, was owned by the actress for 43 years after it was given to her by her husband, Richard Burton.
Christie’sThe Krupp Diamond, also known as the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, which the actress owned for 43 years.
The Krupp Diamond, also known as the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, was one of Elizabeth Taylor’s most beloved jewels. But it had a dramatic history before it landed on the iconic actress’ finger.
Before Richard Burton bought the 33-carat diamond for Taylor in 1968, it had been owned by Nazis, stolen in a bold robbery, and recovered by the FBI.
But after Burton gifted the diamond to Taylor, his then wife, it became one of her most prized possessions. Elizabeth Taylor owned the jewel until her death 43 years later.
The Murky Early History Of The Krupp Diamond
Though it’s one of the most famous diamonds in history, no one is sure where the Krupp Diamond originally came from. Only Natural Diamonds reports that it likely originated in the Golconda region of India or from the Jagersfontein Mine in South Africa. What is known is that the diamond is one of the most spectacular in the world, its quality akin to the infamous Koh-I-Noor Diamond. And by the 20th century, it was owned by a Nazi.
Spring Mountain Ranch State Park/FacebookVera and Alfried Krupp before their divorce.
Indeed, the first known owner of the Krupp Diamond was Vera Krupp, a German actress who had been gifted the diamond by her husband, the Nazi industrialist Alfried Krupp. After the couple divorced in the 1950s, Vera purchased a ranch, which she called Spring Mountain Ranch, near Las Vegas.
Vera brought her 33.19-carat diamond ring with her. The stone, with parallel facets described as “an endless hallway with reflective mirrors,” was worth $275,000 in 1959 — or more than $3 million today.
And Vera always kept the jewel close. The diamond ring always sat on Vera’s finger, even when she went into town to buy groceries. But then, on April 10, 1959, someone knocked on the door of Vera’s home.
The Theft Of The Krupp Diamond
Around 8:30 p.m. that night, Vera Krupp and her rancher foreman, Harold Martin Brotherson, were finishing dinner when three men appeared at the door. As the FBI reports, the men claimed that they could help Vera blacktop her driveway. But as Vera tried to decline their offer, explaining that the roads belonged to the county, the men forced their way inside.
“The fellow had a gun in his hand and went to my side and said something about not being a hero,” Brotherson recalled, per the National Archives. “He then told me to put my hands behind my back and handcuffed me. He then put a piece of adhesive tape across my eyes… [and] made me get on the floor and put Vera next to me and started to tie us together with wire.”
Spring Mountain Ranch State Park/FacebookVera Krupp wore her ring everywhere — even while grocery shopping.
Then the robbers turned their attention to the Krupp Diamond.
“The third man attempted to take her ring off her finger and because she kept the ring tight, he had trouble and she was afraid he would tear her finger off,” the FBI recorded. “She told him to wait and she would spit on her finger so the ring could come off easier, but he kept pulling and the ring came off, cutting her finger as it came off.”
Then the robbers fled into the night. In addition to the Krupp Diamond, they had also stolen a pistol and $700,000 in cash.
The FBI Recovers The Stolen Jewel
After the robbers left, Vera and Brotherson were able to free themselves and alert the police. The FBI — which presumed that the jewel would cross state lines — quickly took over the search for the Krupp Diamond.
Their top suspect was John William Hagenson, a fugitive behind a similar theft in California. The FBI tracked him across the country and arrested him and two accomplices in Louisiana that April.
FBIThe FBI tracked the robbers across the country, ultimately recovering the Krupp Diamond in six weeks.
But Hagenson no longer had the diamond.
The FBI had to expand their investigation. They connected Hagenson to more suspects, and ultimately found the Krupp Diamond in the lining of one of the suspect’s coats. The agents also recovered two baguette diamonds from a jeweler in St. Louis, and returned the jewels to Vera Krupp.
Vera, in turn, sent the diamond to to jeweler Harry Winston, who reset it on a platinum band. Winston also made a glass replica of the diamond as a gift for the FBI as a thanks for their recovery of the jewel.
The Krupp Diamond remained in Vera Krupp’s possession until her death in 1967. Then, the stunning jewel went up for auction.
How The Krupp Diamond Became The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond
On May 16, 1968, actor Richard Burton bought the Krupp Diamond at auction for $305,000 (roughly $3 million), more than anyone had ever paid at auction for a diamond ring before. He gifted the ring to his wife, Elizabeth Taylor.
“I wanted the diamond because it is incomparably lovely,” Burton stated, “and it should be on the loveliest woman in the world.”
Universal PicturesElizabeth Taylor wore the Krupp Diamond in the 1968 film “Boom!”
The Krupp Diamond, since known as the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, quickly became one of the actress’ favorite pieces from her jewelry collection.
“This remarkable stone is called the Krupp Diamond because it has been owned by Vera Krupp,” Taylor later wrote. “When I look into it the deep Asscher cuts – which are so complete and so ravishing – are like steps that lead into eternity and beyond. My ring gives me the strangest feeling for beauty. With its sparks of red and white and blue and purple, and on and on, it sort of hums with its own beatific life. To me, the Krupp says, ‘I want to share my chemistry – my magic – with you.”
The Krupp Diamond became so linked with Elizabeth Taylor that the cartoon version of the actress wore the ring on The Simpsons in 1993. Taylor lovingly called the diamond “her baby, 33 Carats and Growing.”
Elizabeth Taylor kept the diamond even after both her divorces from Burton (one in 1974, and one in 1976). She ultimately owned it for 43 years, until her death on March 23, 2011.
Classic Hollywood HQ/FacebookThe Elizabeth Taylor Diamond on display in Los Angeles, California, in 2011.
At that point, the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond was put up for auction by Christie’s to benefit the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. It was purchased by the South Korean conglomerate E-Land for $8.8 million, and the company stated that it planned to display the diamond at a theme park in Daegu.
After reading about the dramatic history of the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond, learn about the infamous curse of the Hope Diamond. Or, go inside the wild story of the Antwerp Diamond Heist.