Henry Dunay remembers Elizabeth Taylor

Michelle Graff michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com

Earlier this week Christie’s confirmed what had been circulating around the World Wide Web already for weeks: that the auction house would be the one to sell the historic collections of the late, great Elizabeth Taylor, including her millions in jewelry.

While no details are available at this time regarding the specifics of the auction--what pieces will be sold, estimates, etc.--iconic New York designer Henry Dunay reached out shortly after Taylor’s death last month to tell me about his experiences with the Oscar-winning actress.

In the early 1990s, Dunay said he was tapped to design a diamond mask for a charity function for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR). It took him eight months to craft the mask, which he dubbed “The Lachrymosa” (a word that relates to tears and weeping) to remind those who see it of the suffering AIDS has caused globally.

Taylor, the founding national and international chairman of amfAR, donned The Lachrymosa in a 1993

photo shoot (right) designed to generate publicity for the event. A touching tribute to Taylor can be seen here on amfAR’s Web site and, though it hasn’t been confirmed, numerous reports have circulated that the money garnered from the Christie’s auction will go to AIDS charities.

Dunay, a designer to the stars who has mingled with his fair share of celebrities, said he met Taylor on three separate occasions and described her as being gracious and beautiful in person, and very dedicated to her cause. “With the passing of Elizabeth Taylor we have lost an icon of beauty and a lover of fine jewelry,” he said. “She will be missed for her elegance, her beauty and her humanitarian work.”

The diamond mask logged quite a few travel miles in the time it belonged to Dunay. In 2008, The Lachrymosa went on display at The Antwerp Diamond Museum as part of “Diamond Divas,” an exhibition of jewelry donned by famous women, including screen sirens Marilyn Monroe, Gloria Swanson and the jewelry-loving Taylor.

Sadly, after Dunay filed for bankruptcy in June 2009 the mask, along with the rest of his jewels, were sold at auction.

I’m not sure of the mask’s journey since then, but not even 24 hours after my correspondence with Dunay last month, I spotted The Lachrymosa in the display window of the Scarselli Diamonds booth at BaselWorld, accompanied by a picture of Taylor.

I

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never heard back from Scarselli regarding the mask but I know what Dunay would like to see done with his diamond-encrusted creation. It’s a tribute that would make Taylor-- who spent the latter part of her life using her fame and beauty to draw attention to what was then a cause few celebrities were willing to stand up for--proud.

“It would be ideal to be able to have a piece like that at the Smithsonian, saying what it was made for and why it was made,” Dunay said.

Michelle Graffis the editor-in-chief at National Jeweler, directing the publication’s coverage both online and in print.