March 31 was just another Tuesday until Taylor Swift dropped a third music video for The Life of a Showgirl. Unlike "Opalite" and "The Fate of Ophelia," however, the hitmaker wasn't the main character. Elizabeth Taylor herself—plus her largest of ten engagement rings—took center stage in her namesake music video.
Swifties expecting the singer to embody the Hollywood legend—down to the bombshell bob and dramatic eye makeup—were shocked to see a fan-made-looking montage of Elizabeth Taylor's greatest performances. Clips of Taylor in the circa-1968 cult-classic, Boom!, aligned perfectly with Swift's lyrics, "All my white diamonds and lovers are forever."
The camera closed in on the legend's 33.19-carat engagement ring from then-husband Richard Burton, which earned a starring role in the film. The center stone's Asscher cut alone "leaned into the Hollywood grandeur vibe of that era," Jillian Sassone, founder and creative director of Marrow Fine, tells Marie Claire. "Its classic square shape with long, flat facets give [the ring] a clean, architectural structure."
The Krupp Diamond—named after its first owner, German actress Vera Krupp—originally set Burton back $305,000. But after Taylor's passing in 2011, the boulder of an engagement ring was renamed "The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond," and auctioned off for over $8.8 million.
Swift wouldn't write a song about just any Old Hollywood star, much less dedicate an entire music video to them. But she's "always looked up to" Taylor, especially as "this very glamorous, very beloved, but for some reason polarizing figure," she told Elvis Duran last October. "She's just a fabulous role model and I hope my fans will look her up and see...she was making her best art, even at the midst of people's outrage over something in her life, she continued being at the top of her game in terms of her artistic output."
The similarities between the Grammy and Oscar winners' lives are uncanny, as proven by the "Elizabeth Taylor" lyrics. But Swift's style, especially in the engagement ring department, is far more eclectic. Her ring's "high crown and smaller table gives it a soft, romantic sparkle with a vintage-inspired charm," Sassone adds.
The "Father Figure" singer's center gemstone put cushioned, old-mine cuts back on the map, in an elongated North-South setting. Swift's designer, Kindred Lubeck of Artifex Fine, didn't reveal its exact carat count, but experts in conversation with Marie Claire estimated it was anywhere between 10-15, and likely cost upwards of $750,000.
Swift isn't the only celebrity drawn to Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry. In fact, wearing her exact pieces has become somewhat of a spectacle in Hollywood. Everyone from Julianne Moore and Blake Lively to Kim Kardashian and Jessica Chastain have given the actor's jewels another life.
Most recently, Margot Robbie borrowed the famous heart-shaped Taj Mahal necklace for the L.A. premiere of Wuthering Heights. The jade-encrusted pendant—which dangled down a gold, ruby, and diamond chain—was also a gift to Taylor from Burton in 1972. Swift hasn't secured one of Taylor's exact styles yet. But if they ever auction up again, trust her bidding paddle is ready.
