President of Christie's America, Marc Porter, said the sale promised "to captivate the auction world". He added: "This is without a doubt the greatest private collection of jewellery assembled in one place."
Taylor's obsession with jewellery is well-chronicled. Her twice-husband Richard Burton said: "I introduced Liz to beer, and she introduced me to Bulgari."
If your jaw would ever drop at a piece of jewellery then it would drop at some of the gifts from Burton, not least "the Elizabeth Taylor Diamond", a 33.19 carat monster of a diamond ring that she cheerfully wore most days after being given it in 1968.
Taylor once said: "My ring gives me the strangest feeling for beauty. With its sparks of red and white and blue and purple, and on and on, really, it sort of hums with its own beautific life."
Its estimate may be a tad beyond most means – $2.5m to $3.5m.
Burton was also responsible for "It's a beautiful day, I love you" gifts and an "It's Tuesday, I love you" present of a Bulgari emerald set – necklace pendant, ring, bracelet, earrings – collected over the course of many trips to the Bulgari boutique on Rome's Via Condotti while they were filming Cleopatra. He is alleged to have claimed "the only word Elizabeth knows in Italian is Bulgari".
Then there is his 1968 Christmas present to her which she almost missed because Burton had buried it so deep in her Christmas stocking. The perfect red ruby ring is estimated at $1m to $1.5m.
Taylor always intended that her collection would go to auction. In her 2002 memoir, My Love Affair With Jewellery, Taylor wrote: "I never, never thought of my jewellery 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."
The jewellery will be sold over two sessions on 14 December in New York.
It was on display at Christie's London 24-26 September.
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