Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry sells for $115m

2012-05-25 39

The jewelry collection of late actress Elizabeth Taylor has fetched a record-setting $115m at an auction of gems and other memorabilia amassed during her lifetime.

The 33.19-carat diamond ring given to Taylor by Richard Burton, the actor she married twice, was sold for $8.8m.

La Peregrina - a pearl, diamond and ruby-encrusted necklace purchased for Taylor in 1969 for $37,000 - set a world record for the $1.8m bid it received on the auction block.

Despite its high price, the necklace had been previously estimated to sell for $2m to $3m.

Al Jazeera's Cath Turner reports from New York.