Elizabeth Taylor Earrings: Kim Kardashian’s Paris Couture Moment

Paris Couture Week never lacks drama, but one appearance stood out for fans of old Hollywood. Kim Kardashian walked the Balenciaga couture show wearing a pair of Elizabeth Taylor earrings, linking a modern runway with a piece of film history.

The runway look

The show was staged in the historic salons of Balenciaga’s Avenue George V headquarters, where theatrical shapes met the house’s sharply architectural tailoring. Kim has become a familiar face in the world of the label’s designer, Demna. This time she wore a figure-hugging, lingerie-inspired slip dress with a voluminous feathered coat that spilled off her shoulders.

The outfit drew plenty of attention, but the jewellery told the better story.

Inside the Elizabeth Taylor earrings

The diamond pendant earrings were loaned for the occasion by celebrity jeweller Lorraine Schwartz, who bought them at auction in 2011 for $374,500. Diamond specialists at UK retailer Steven Stone have examined the pair and described the craftsmanship in detail.

The design is a classic girandole style. Each earring has three circular-cut diamond drops hanging from an openwork plaque, which is decorated with diamond-set flowers and bows. A circular-cut diamond flower sits on top, and the whole piece is mounted in platinum for extra brilliance.

Thanks to their famous owner and timeless look, Maxwell Stone of Steven Stone estimates they are now worth around $650,000. That is a big step up from the auction price.

The story behind the diamonds

There is a lovely backstory that most people do not know. While in Paris with her husband, the film producer Mike Todd, Elizabeth Taylor spotted an original pair made with inexpensive paste stones, and she fell for them straight away. A few months later, Mike surprised her with a custom-made version set entirely with diamonds.

Decades on, those same earrings have returned to Paris, this time on Kim’s ears. It is a neat full-circle moment for a piece with so much history behind it.

What makes a girandole earring special

The girandole style has a long tradition in fine jewellery. The name points to a central ornament with smaller drops hanging beneath it, which gives the piece movement and lets the light play through every stone. On a catwalk, with a feathered coat framing the face, that movement matters. Each step would have set the diamonds swinging and catching the light.

The platinum mount helps too. It keeps the setting slim and bright, so the focus stays on the stones rather than the metal around them.

Why it worked

The contrast is what made the moment memorable. Balenciaga’s couture is all about shape and drama, and Kim’s coat added volume while the dress kept the silhouette sleek. Against that, the earrings brought a softer, more romantic note.

Pairing contemporary couture with storied vintage jewels is a clever trick. The slip dress and feathered coat were bold and modern, while the earrings added a sense of heritage and glamour. Together they showed how fashion can look both forward and back at the same time.

It is also a reminder that great jewellery has a life far beyond one owner. Pieces like these pass through auctions, collections and borrowed moments on the catwalk, picking up new chapters along the way.

For anyone who loves a bit of old Hollywood sparkle, this was a rather special return to the Paris fashion stage. And it all began with a pair of imitation stones that caught a film star’s eye.