A Man Spent $125,000 on a “Washed-Up Star’s” Old Jewelry — Just So Taylor Swift Could Wear It

On a Saturday night in May 2026, at a wedding in Bushwick, Brooklyn, everyone’s phone buzzed at the same time.

Not when the bride and groom exchanged vows. When Taylor Swift walked in.

She was wearing a gold Maria Lucia Hohan silk gown, but none of that mattered. What mattered was what hung from her ears — a pair of chandelier earrings, black opal set in 22K gold, surrounded by natural Australian crystal. There was a bracelet on her wrist. A ring on her finger. A matching set.

Guests started whispering. Someone recognized the style. Not a modern designer’s work. That cut, that setting, that sense of quiet confidence — the kind of thing that doesn’t need to announce itself because the people who know, know. It was old-world.

A few hours later, Page Six sent out a push notification: The jewelry Taylor Swift wore that night was from Elizabeth Taylor’s personal collection.

Not a tribute piece. Not a “inspired by” design. The actual set that Elizabeth Taylor herself bought from designer Darlene De Sedle in 1999. Worn by Elizabeth Taylor. The originals.

The internet exploded.

The Wanderings of That Jewelry Set

Let’s start from the beginning.

In 1999, Elizabeth Taylor bought a set of opal jewelry from designer Darlene De Sedle — chandelier earrings, two bracelets, one ring, all made with black opal and natural Australian crystal, set in 22K gold. She wore them a few times, then put them in her collection.

In 2011, after Elizabeth Taylor passed away, Christie’s held an auction of her jewelry collection. The total sale reached $116 million — still the world record for a private jewelry collection at auction. La Peregrina pearl sold for $11.8 million. The Elizabeth Taylor Diamond sold for $8.8 million. The Taj Mahal Diamond sold for $8.8 million.

And that opal set?

It sold for $6,000.

In the same auction, a charm bracelet went for $326,500. A gold necklace originally estimated at $1,500 to $2,000 sold for $314,500. And that complete opal set — bought personally by Elizabeth Taylor — went for six thousand dollars.

Nobody wanted it.

It sat quietly in the auction catalog, like an old book forgotten on a shelf. Nobody remembered who bought it. For over a decade, it disappeared from public view. It didn’t appear on any red carpet. Nobody photographed it. Nobody wrote about it.

Until late 2025.

A Sports Agent, and a Buyer Who “Didn’t Quite Fit”

Around Christmas 2025, Adam Fox, owner of Fox Estate Jewelry, listed the set on 1stDibs.

Asking price: $125,000.

From $6,000 to $125,000 — nearly a 21x increase. But even at 21 times the price, it remained one of the cheapest pieces from Elizabeth Taylor’s collection. La Peregrina’s loose change was worth more.

A buyer reached out. Adam Fox later said in an Instagram video that the buyer was a “sports agent.” He thought it was a little strange at the time — a sports agent, buying a set of Elizabeth Taylor’s opal jewelry? For what?

He didn’t think much of it. The deal closed. The money arrived. The jewelry was packaged and shipped.

Then in May 2026, he saw the photos of Taylor Swift at that Brooklyn wedding.

“I was like, ah, this makes so much more sense.”

Opal Is Travis Kelce’s Birthstone

When Adam Fox said “this makes so much more sense,” he wasn’t just referring to the fact that Travis Kelce is in the sports world, so a sports agent would be his guy.

He was referring to something else.

Opal is Travis Kelce’s birthstone. He was born on October 5, 1989. October. Opal is the birthstone for October.

Taylor Swift’s album The Life of a Showgirl includes a song called “Opalite.” Fans had already connected that song to Travis Kelce. Now she was wearing a complete set of opal jewelry to a wedding. A set that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor. A set bought by a “sports agent” around Christmas.

“It seems like it was bought with a lot of purpose.”

That line from Adam Fox is the lightest sentence in the whole story. And the heaviest.

She Wrote a Song, Then Wore That Woman’s Jewelry

In 2025, Taylor Swift released The Life of a Showgirl. One track is called “Elizabeth Taylor.”

She sings: “Cry my eyes violet / Elizabeth Taylor” — crying until her eyes turn violet. Elizabeth Taylor’s eyes were famously violet.

She sings: “Be my NY when Hollywood hates me” — be my New York when Hollywood hates me. Elizabeth Taylor left the Hollywood studio system in the late 1950s and moved to New York.

She sings: “Babe, I would trade the Cartier for someone to trust” — baby, I’d trade the Cartier for someone I can trust. Elizabeth Taylor’s life was intertwined with Cartier — the ruby set from Mike Todd, the Taj Mahal Diamond from Burton, Cartier was always in the picture.

She sings: “All my White Diamonds and lovers are forever” — all my White Diamonds and lovers are forever. Elizabeth Taylor’s perfume was called White Diamonds. Her jewelry collection held countless white diamonds. She married eight times. She loved a lot of people.

In an interview, Taylor Swift said: “I love Elizabeth Taylor. She is the ultimate icon, role model that I look to when I look at somebody who had immense pressure on them, was extremely scrutinised for everything she ever did.”

Then she wrote a song.

Then a man bought a set of Elizabeth Taylor’s old jewelry.

Then she wore it.

A “Washed-Up Star’s” Old Things, and a Love Story Happening Right Now

That jewelry set was worth $6,000 at Christie’s in 2011. Nobody fought for it. Nobody raised a paddle. Nobody thought it was worth anything.

Fifteen years later, a sports agent bought it around Christmas for $125,000. Then it appeared on Taylor Swift’s ears, under the lights at a Brooklyn wedding, in a Page Six push notification, in fan discussions around the world.

That opal set once belonged to a woman the whole world watched. She married eight times. She was criticized, loved, consumed, forgotten. Her jewelry was auctioned, broken up, undervalued. That opal set — six thousand dollars — was the most overlooked piece in the entire collection.

Then another woman the whole world watches put it on.

In “Elizabeth Taylor,” Taylor Swift asks: “Elizabeth Taylor, do you think it’s forever?”

The answer might be in that jewelry. That opal set went from Elizabeth Taylor’s hands, to a sports agent’s hands, to a box, to a wedding, to the ears of a woman the whole world is watching.

$6,000 can’t buy forever. $125,000 can’t either. But a man buying a “washed-up star’s” old jewelry around Christmas, just so his fiancée could wear it — that comes closer to “forever” than any diamond.

Because forever isn’t the price of a stone. Forever is one person understanding another. Elizabeth Taylor’s eyes were violet. Travis Kelce’s birthstone is opal. Taylor Swift wrote a song, then wore that woman’s jewelry.

How much is that set worth?

Adam Fox knows. But what he didn’t say is this — some things, once bought, were never meant to be sold again.