The Taylor-Burton diamond was discovered in premier mine, South Africa, in 1966. At the time of discovery, the rough stone was weighing 241carats (48.2 g) and later transformed to pear shaped stone, weighing 69.42 carats (13.884 g) by Harry Winston. The stone was christened Taylor-Burton, after its purchase by the renowned holly wood artists Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in the year 1969.

Purchase of the stone :

The original owner of the stone was Harriet Annenberg Ames, who bought the gem in 1967. She found very difficuly in handling the stone, so she decided to put up for an auction in 1969 at Parke- Burnet, in New York. Then the exquisite stone found its way to Elizabeth Taylor, great holly wood actress, wife of Richard Burton. She mounted the stone in a necklace and worn it for the 42nd Academy award, in 1970 and grabbed worldwide attention. Taylor sold the stone to Henry Lambert for a massive price of $3, 000,000 and she constructed a hospital for public use in Botswana, by using this money. In 1979, Lambert sold the stone to Robert Mouwad, the present owner of the crystal.

Qualities of the crystal :

When found, the stone was 241 carats weighing rough stone with trace amount of inclusions. Harry Winston, the renowned diamond dealer, bought the colorless stone and cut it to pear shaped gem, weighing 69.42 carats. The cut employed by Harry Winston was more accurate enough to remove the inclusions present inside in it. Thus, the finished product is the perfect colorless, pear shaped, internally flawless stone. Since, the stone is free from nitrogen it is absolutely colorless and categorized as type I diamond. This is a sought after diamond because of the absence of plastic deformation, which makes the stone structurally perfect and chemically pure.