The upcoming Collection of Elizabeth Taylor auction at Christie’s New York will include three pieces from a Los Angeles jewelry designer who had a personal relationship with jewelry-loving star.
“I would often go to visit Elizabeth Taylor at her house and she would say that her heart would jump a certain way when she saw a jewel that was just right for her. And these did it,” said Sandra Müller, who has a store in Beverly Hills.
The items that caught Taylor’s fancy was an 18k gold necklace and bracelet set covered with smoky quartz, citrines, corals, fresh water pearls, tiger's eye, crystal de roche and chrysophrase; And a stand-alone 18k gold bracelet with lavender overtones that uses amethyst, citrines, aquamarines, rubelite, fresh water pearls and ametrines (All pictured above). Taylor bought the pieces in 2001.
“The style is very Capri chic 1970’s,” Müller said. “My inspiration was to create something fun, colorful, charming, and full of life, using fine semi-precious gem beads and combining colors that would have suited an Emilio Pucci or Thea Porter colorful gown—very much Elizabeth’s style.”
The pieces will be placed on the block December 15 as part of the Fashions and Accessories (IV) portion of the auction. The estimate is $200 - $300. The entire Elizabeth Taylor auction will be held over a four-day period, December 13-16.
Müller said she first met Taylor at the Palace Hotel in Gstaad when she was nine years old. Taylor was having lunch with the wife and daughter of Yul Brynner and she joined them. In fact, it was at this meeting that Müller decided that she wanted to be a jewelry designer.
“I was mesmerized by her (Taylor’s) headdress, with an emerald dangling on her forehead,” Müller said. “She had an incredibly eclectic taste for jewelry. This encounter awakened in me an aspiration to become a jeweler. Little did I know that one day she would be wearing my creations.”
Müller grew up in Paris and Geneva. At eighteen, she moved to California to study gemology and jewelry manufacturing at the Gemological Institute of America. Since then, she has been creating one-of-a kind jewels and limited editions for a clientele that includes many celebrities.