Cartier “La Peregrina” Pearl Necklace

This necklace, crafted by Cartier in 1972, belonged to American actress Elizabeth Taylor and is considered one of the most famous pearl jewels in the world. The pendant features the legendary “La Pérégrina” pearl, weighing 50.56 carats, which circulated among European royal families for nearly 300 years. Its extraordinary history and illustrious succession of owners make it one of the most valuable and collectible pearls ever known.

In the mid-16th century, a rare, perfectly symmetrical teardrop-shaped pearl was discovered in the Pearl Islands of the Gulf of Panama—the largest of its kind at the time. Over the next two and a half centuries, it became a favorite adornment of successive Queens of Spain. The pearl can be seen in the portraits of Queen Mary I of England, Queen Elisabeth of France, and Queen Mariana of Austria.

In 1808, Spain’s new monarch Joseph Bonaparte named the pearl La Pérégrina (“The Wanderer”) and later gifted it to his nephew Napoléon III. The pearl eventually passed into the hands of the Duke and Duchess of Abercorn in the United Kingdom.

In 1969, actor Richard Burton purchased La Pérégrina at auction for $37,000 as a 37th birthday gift for his wife, Elizabeth Taylor. Delighted, Taylor described it as “the most perfect pearl in the world” and commissioned Cartier designer Al Durante to create a ruby- and diamond-set necklace to complement the extraordinary gem.

The completed piece features 57 natural saltwater pearls and 4 cultured pearls, arranged in two elegant strands. The detachable pendant can also be worn as a brooch, designed in a leaf motif densely set with antique diamonds in old mine and rose cuts, accented with vivid rubies.

In 2011, the La Pérégrina necklace was sold as part of Elizabeth Taylor’s jewelry collection at auction in the UK for a record-breaking $11.84 million, setting the highest auction price ever for a pearl jewel—a record that still stands today.

Lineage of “La Pérégrina” Pearl Owners: