Diamonds the stars dare not wear

Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32565, 26 March 1971, Page 5

Diamonds the stars dare not wear

(By

MARY KAYE)

LONDON. Zsa Zsa Gabor, Shirley MacLaine, and Sophia Loren have all been victims of recent jewel robberies. The three actresses all lost gems worth many thousands of dollars, yet none of the women had insurance cover.

-The reason is said to be that the premiums they would have been asked to pay were too high. The more valuable the collection the higher the premium, because of the risk of robbery. Hence many owners do not bother to insure. Instead, they keep their gems i out of sight, according to a spokesman for Lloyds of London. I One exception is Elizabeth 1 Taylor, who says simply: ; “Insurance is just like paying I someone to look after your jewellery for you, isn’t it?” I Her million-dollar Cartier diamond which her husband, Richard Burton, bought last year is just one item in a vast wardrobe of gems. The insurance on that stone alone is $55,000 a year for a slm cover. In spite of that colossal premium, she cannot wear it when ever she wants to. The insurers insist she may have it out of the vaults for only 30 days a year. When she does, she has to bear the cost of having security men ip her entourage. One such occasion was Princess Grace’s fortieth birthday party in Monaco. Security arrangements were so elaborate that three men travelled to the principality in three separate planes, each one carrying an identical briefcase. But as Elizabeth Taylor says: “There’s bound to be an occasion when I’ll have reached my 30-days limit, and there will be a thirty-first time when I'm simply dying to flash it around.” Elizabeth Taylor has a fabulous collection of gems. They include a' ruby and diamond necklace and edrrings, and a glittering diamond tiara—presents from the late Mike Todd—the Krupp diamond which Burton bought her and the famous La Peregrina pearl which once belonged to Mary Tudor. She has so many jewels that she has been known to refuse them. Burton, for example, loves to recall the occasion last year when she decided against a $500,000 ruby ring brought from Paris on approval. The reason, she told him, was. that she already had a “perfectly good” ruby ring. Mrs Jacqueline Onassis is another who owns a fortune in jewellery. But the collections of both Elizabeth Taylor and Mrs Onassis dim beside the dazzling display of gems in the Queen’s jewel case at Buckingham Palace. Twenty years ago, while she was still Princess Elizato make an inventory. It was finally decided to order a blue morocco-leather

beth, a London firm of jewellers was commissioned book embossed with the letter “E” in gold, in which to list her valuables. But it was found she had sq many items that several other volumes had to be ordered. But of all her rubies, the sapphires?* the emeralds and the diamonds, her favourite item of jewellery is a delicate gold bracelet given to her by Prince Philip on her fifth wedding anniversary. The Prince designed it himself, and it includes the initials E and P entwined—a true lovers’ emblem, this —and a naval crest outlined in precious stones. Friends say the Queen still wears it regularly, often with no other jewels except her wedding and engagement rings. For formal occasions, however, she has been known to wear as many as eight priceless pieces at a time. And, of course, when the Crown Jewels are brought out for

the biggest state occasions, the Queen really glitters. Fifty years ago, their estimated value was s4om. Today, it is impossible to put a price on them. Elizabeth Taylor, it is said, has often visited the Tower of London just to gaze at the fabulous Star of Africa. But not even Burton at his most generous could buy it for her. The ironical fact is that, like the rest of the Crown jewels, it is not insured. And the reason? “They are priceless, and therefore unassessable,” says a spokesman-from the Lord Chamberlain’s office.

It is perhaps scarcely surprising that Sophia Loren, who nas once before been the target of jewel thieves, has said she will buy no more diamonds. “The arms of my baby son round my neck are all the jewels I want from now,” she has declared-