The original rough diamond was found in 1966 in the Premier Mine in South Africa, weighing 241 carats (48.2 g).
The necklace was designed to fit Taylor's neck allowing the diamond to cover her tracheotomy scar resulting from her bout with near fatal pneumonia in 1961.
Annenberg Ames feared wearing the diamond in her native New York City, and decided to sell the stone.
[1] It was announced that the auction would take place on 23 October 1969, with the diamond listed as lot 133, at Parke-Bernet in New York City.
[7] Underbidders in the sale included the jeweller Harry Winston, the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah, and the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis, who had dropped out of the auction at $700,000.
Burton later wrote of his reaction in his diary, writing that: "I turned into a raving maniac and insisted that he get Aaron on the phone as soon as possible.
I screamed at Aaron that bugger Cartiers, I was going to get that diamond if it cost me my life or 2 million dollars whichever was the greater.
[10]Burton had spent the day after the auction by the payphone in the Bell Inn, after having instructed Frosch to buy the diamond from Cartier regardless of the price.
Burton also wrote in his diary that "I wanted that diamond because it is incomparably lovely ... and it should be on the loveliest woman in the world.
[11] Burton and Taylor's jewels and other investments bought by the couple were officially assets of a tax shelter established by the pair, called the Atlantic Corporation.
[12] Kenmore had agreed to sell the diamond if it could be displayed at Cartier's stores in New York and Chicago, and after taking out a large advert in the New York Times to announce the public viewing, an estimated 6,000 people queued to see the diamond every day.
The men flew from New York to Nice in France, and upon entering Monaco an armed guard with a machine gun gave further protection to the diamond.
[15] Burton wrote in his diary that "Elizabeth's delight in it is a joy to behold and a very quaint thing to witness is the obvious pleasure that other people take in her wearing it.
[15] After her second divorce from Burton in 1978, Taylor sold the diamond in June 1979 to Henry Lambert, a jeweller from New York for a figure believed to between $3–5 million.