"I never, never thought of my jewelry as trophies. I'm here to take care of them and to love them. When I die and they go off to auction I hope whoever buys them gives them a really good home."
So spoke the late Elizabeth Taylor of her prize possessions, most of which broke records at the four-day New York auction at Christie's that brought in over $116,000,000 and resulted in a flood of sparkling goodies to various Korean entrepreneaurs, Kim Kardashian and a number of other very wealthy, glamorous and successful people.
I do not intend this diary to be a usual liberal rant about how many schools could be built or homeless shelters constructed or children vaccinated or people fed with this kind of money. After all, we're a capitalistic state and the owners of money can talk any way they like. What I wonder about is the kind of people who would need to wear a hospital wing on their finger.
I'm not going to get atarted on why we even have the kind of celebrity-worship that produces a Marilyn Monroe or an Elizabeth Taylor. It's said that Americans really want a monarchy and, due to that pesky Constitution, we have to invent one of our own based on something other than birth. We chose money, which is most logical considering our own attitudes toward it. Unfortunately, like money, there is no such thing as "enough" when it comes to celebrity.
Many of us seem to believe that celebrity is contagious. From the most innocuous manifestation, the autograph collector, to the pathetic figure of someone who believes wearing an eight million-dollar ring given to Elizabeth Taylor by Richard Burton can bestow the glamour of their romance on the current wearer. Personally, I feel the idea that a signature or a diamond can somehow ennoble or elevate is ridiculous at best and delusional at worst.
But maybe there are other reasons why some insecure matron would think that wearing an elementary school around her neck in the form of a 33.19 carat diamond could possibly improve her standing as a person. Maybe people simply want to rub other people's noses in it. I've heard a very rich man declare money was simply a way for him to keep score. Why not? It's the way we judge almost everything.
Although "La Peregrina" -- a pearl, diamond and ruby necklace given to Taylor by Burton in 1969, will end up as an exhibit by a Korean hotel chain, somebody, someday, might want to beat the $11.8 million bid that won it at Christie's. There will probably be someone desperate enough for attention to buy it and show it off at her gala divorce party.
This isn't to say that all people who wear huge pieces of jewelry are selfish, egocentric buffoons. Some probably give time and money to those in need. Ms Taylor certainly did. However, I think it's safe to say that most of the bidders at Christie's are people in want - and I don't think they'll ever be satisfied because someone else will always have more.
Maybe Ms Taylor, in between her eight marriages, really felt that taking care and loving her jewelry could somehow fill in the gaps. She may well have a lot in common with the people who will be giving them good homes.
I know it sounds funny, but I feel a little sorry for them.