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Elizabeth Taylor Jewelry: 'Cleopatra' 50th Anniversary Screens At Cannes 2013 (PHOTOS)

The Many Jewels Of Elizabeth Taylor
Married actors Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (1925 - 1984) attend the Academy Awards ceremonies, Los Angeles, California, April 7, 1970. (Photo by Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Getty Images)
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Married actors Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton (1925 - 1984) attend the Academy Awards ceremonies, Los Angeles, California, April 7, 1970. (Photo by Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Getty Images)

The late Elizabeth Taylor is arguably known for two things: Her love for jewelry and her many husbands.

These two obsessions collided when Taylor met her future husband Richard Burton (Taylor was married eight times) on the set of the grandiose "Cleopatra" in 1963, where the two temperamental actors cheated on their respective spouses and sparked a love affair that would see two marriages (including one in Montreal) and fascinate the world.

It was on the set of "Cleopatra" that Burton gave Elizabeth a Bulgari emerald ring and a matching necklace and brooch set for their engagement only a few months later. (Actress Julianne Moore wore that same necklace at a pre-Oscars party this year.)

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of "Cleopatra," the 2013 Cannes Film Festival screened a special edition of the film on Tuesday and lucky "Zero Dark Thirty" actress Jessica Chastain got the chance to wear the screen legend's sapphire and diamond necklace at the red carpet event.

Liz, who died at the age of 79 in March, 2011, amassed a huge (to put it mildly) collection of jewels which included the Krupp Diamond, a 33.19-carat emerald-cut Harry Winston diamond ring; La Peregrina, one of the largest pear-shaped pearls in the world; a diamond tiara which she wore to the 1957 Cannes Film Festival and the Taylor-Burton Diamond, a 64.9-carat pear-shaped diamond and purchased by Richard Burton for $1.1 million. (Liz later sold the Taylor-Burton Diamond for $5 million after the couple divorced.)

In honour of Elizabeth Taylor's "Cleopatra" and, of course, her love for all things sparkly, we take a look at the many jewels she collected throughout her lifetime:

Elizabeth Taylor's Jewelry

Elizabeth Taylor's Jewelry

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