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Case file s1884 · Hollywood and TV · 2011
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2011
Elizabeth Taylor: Taylor, Elizabeth posed
Elizabeth Taylor. Studio publicity still. Public domain, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
23 March 2011
Place
Los Angeles, California · United States
Field
film actor · Film and television on the timeline
Legal tradition
US common law (California) · Common law
Historical event
Christie's New York sales of the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor, 13 to 17 December 2011
Religion
Elizabeth Taylor: Jewish, Other Christian (recorded as Judaism, Christianity on Wikidata; 20th-century American Jews, 20th-century British Jews, 21st-century American Jews on Wikipedia)
Member of
Republican Party (Wikidata)
Hollywood and TVGiven awayNowNorth AmericaUnited States

Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry sold for $137,235,575 at Christie's in December 2011, the most ever paid for a jewelry collection, with the proceeds going to her foundation

Elizabeth Taylor died on 23 March 2011. Christie's sold her jewelry in New York on 13 and 14 December 2011. The evening sale on 13 December brought $115.9 million. The jewelry sales together totalled $137,235,575, which Guinness World Records lists as the most expensive jewelry collection sold at auction. Sales of her clothing, accessories and memorabilia followed through 17 December. A total of about $156.8 million for the whole collection is reported from a Christie's summary†. Guinness World Records states that all proceeds went to the Elizabeth Taylor Foundation; another report says most of the proceeds were earmarked for her AIDS and other charities, so the split is not settled†. The estate's value and the shares that went to her heirs were not found in a primary source†.

What the law took from it

A collector who directs the sale of her possessions to a foundation turns objects into a gift that no heir can contest.

Sources
  1. guinnessworldrecords.comPress
  2. artfixdaily.comPress
  3. ibtimes.comPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry sold for $137,235,575 at Christie's in December 2011, the most ever paid for a jewelry collection, with the proceeds going to her foundation,” story s1884, https://www.celebrity.estate/elizabeth-taylor-2011, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Hollywood and TVGiven awayNowNorth AmericaCommon lawUnited States