Under Re-Construction

It's slightly scandalous to be married four times. But when your fourth husband is your now deceased third husband's best friend, who was married at the time you started your relationship with him..... well THAT'S scandalous. And so goes the marriage of Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher.

Choices. It's all about choices with this tiara. What's that you say? You don't like how the central element clashes with your red dress? Well, just swap it out, dear. Indeed, the Honeysuckle Tiara is one of the best kinds - it's convertible!

There are great jewelry collectors with fantastic pedigrees and great class. And then there was Mrs. George Washington Kavanaugh. Born Maria Magdalena Muller in Richmond, Virginia, she first married William Haberle, who was a brewery heir from Syracuse. Little is known about how she met Mr. Haberle or for how long they were married. But by all accounts, they didn't lead a very glamorous life, instead living in a drab, typical upper middle class Queen Anne house on Prospect Av

The third time is a charm. That's what they say, right? For Elizabeth Taylor, she thought she'd found true love with husband number three, Mike Todd. Fresh from marriage number two, she fell hard for the 47 year old Todd (she was only 24). He was also twice divorced. What drew Elizabeth Taylor and Mike Todd together? Maybe it was the engagement ring that won her over. Maybe it was him. Sadly, we'll never know.

I'm back with the final chapter in my visit to London and Kensington Palace, where I got to see the three tiaras on display there, as part of the Victoria Revealed Exhibit. And I have to say, this is my favorite chapter. And favorite tiara of the three. In fact, one of my top three tiaras... ever. Yes. Ever. The Fife Tiara.

The Gilded Age. It was a time of plenty but for many it was.... well, a time of PLENTY. There were haves and have nots. And then there were the have more than you can imagines. May Goelet came from a family in the last category. One of the wealthiest heiresses of the time, back when American heiresses were marrying British and Scottish nobility because they had everything else here in America but a title, Mary Goelet Innes-Ker was the cream of the crop.

Love will find a way, as the saying goes. Even when that love is 20 years your senior. Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Wilding married at Caxton Hall in London on February 21, 1952. No matter that she had been divorced barely a year at that point. No matter that he was also 20 years her senior. When it's love, it's love. Or so they say.

Oh to have a husband that loves to dabble in amazing jewelry creations and then gift them to me. Alas, I do not have such a husband. Queen Victoria did, however, and good ol' Albert created gorgeous pieces for her, including what we now call Queen Victoria's Emerald Tiara, to match some other amazing emerald jewels he'd made for her. Let's discuss, shall we?

Last week I introduced you to Gabriella Princess zu Leiningen, a woman who married well (twice) and had the jewelry collection to prove it. Her last husband, Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, had been married before and was no stranger to bestowing lovely women with amazing jewels. So, today I want to introduce you to.... his first wife, Princess Salimah Aga Khan.

Every wild story has a beginning. And an end. The history of Elizabeth Taylor's husbands, all seven of them, is truly a wild story. One that started when she was merely 18 years old with a hotel financier (and Paris Hilton's great uncle) named Conrad "Nicky" Hilton. Here's their story.

There are tiaras that are instantly recognizable (we've featured several that fit into that category). And then there are tiaras who's style was so fashionable "everyone" had to have one. But then, that made it hard to distinguish from one another. Such an unfortunate problem to have, right? And today's #TiaraTuesday feather, The Fife Fringe Tiara is one of the latter.

What's the easiest way to amass an amazing jewelry collection? Well, maybe not the easiest, but the quickest way is to marry one of the most wealthy men in the world. When money is no object, it appears like jewels just magically fall from the sky. Or Cartier. Just ask Gabriella Princess zu Leiningen.

It's not often that we see romance last for long in Hollywood beyond the silver screen. But Angela Lansbury and Peter Shaw were the exaction to that rule. Married in 1949 (his first and her second) they were married 54 years before Peter died of heart failure in 2003.

She needs no introduction but just in case you're reading this fifty years after publication, we'll clue you in. Diana, Princess of Wales was an amazing woman who gone way too soon. A gentle soul who chose to hold hands with the sick and stand side by side with the poor, she had a jewelry collection that rivaled her true beauty. There are many pieces we could cover, but we'll hit what we think are the highlights here.

They say the third time's a charm. But that's not always the case. Actually, in the case of Rita Hayworth, it appears not the third, fourth nor fifth time sealed the deal. But we find it interesting that she was married to four of her five husbands for five years each. The one exception: Dick Haymes, to whom she was only married for two. And now we know why. Here's the story of Rita Hayworth and Dick Haymes.

Do you have any pieces of jewelry in your jewelry box that you haven't worn in over eighty years? We didn't think so. But if you're the British Royal family and we're talking about the Royal jewelry vaults... well, maybe things just get a bit lost in there. Apparently the Teck Crescent Tiara is holed up inside, just waiting for the light of day.

Once called the "Supreme goddess of Spanish language cinema," by the New York Times, Maria Felix was no doubt a super star. Maybe not here in the US, but in Mexico and in her adopted France, she was a mega star. And mega stars need? Mega jewels, of course.

She was the woman who on May 1, 1967, married the world's most eligible bachelor. Unless you're under the age of ten or have lived in a cave the last 50 years, you know who I'm talking about. The groom maybe more so than bride but she's still alive and kicking.... and he isn't. What famous couple could this bet? Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu, of course.

Another one bites the dust. It was a common refrain when discussing Queen Mary and her tiaras. Just when folks would fall in love with one of her lovely tiaras, she'd get a wild hair and have it dismantled to make a different piece of jewelry. And so goes the Boucheron Loop Tiara.

When you hear the name Andy Warhol, you think Campbell's Soup Cans and modern art. Most of us don't think of fine jewelry, much less an extensive collection that rivaled the most well known of socialites.