Burt Reynolds for Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds. Two versions, one above and one below the jump. These were made in 1998; there were also ads featuring Kenny Rogers and Lorenzo Lamas.
For Elizabeth Taylor Black Pearls Eau de Parfum, it’s almost as if the Liz Taylor perfume team set out to make a fragrance that was the complete opposite of White Diamonds. First, of course, the name. What could be more removed from a white diamond than a black pearl? Then the fragrance itself. White Diamonds is a grand, soapy, white floral with a clean, dignified, and innocent air. Black Pearls is something else altogether.
“Well, if we really want to distinguish it from White Diamonds, we’ll need fruit,” a marketing person must have said.
“How about peach? You know, voluptuous, like Ms. Taylor herself. We can add a spot of bergamot to keep it from being too sweet,” the perfume executive said.
“What else? What else will set it apart from White Diamonds?”
“Maybe vanilla? We can make it an oriental. Wait! I know — how about leather? A whopping leather note? There’s nothing innocent and ladylike about that.” And so, in 1996, Black Pearls was born. At least, in my imagination that’s how it happened. And that’s how it smells…
It’s disconcerting to consider Elizabeth Taylor White Diamonds, a perfume supposed to represent the actress. After all, which Liz are we talking about? The ingénue of National Velvet? The tempestuous, alcohol-sodden seductress of Butterfield 8 and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The Senator’s wife, depressed and overweight? Or maybe the laid-back Mrs. Fortensky?
I knew White Diamonds was wildly popular, but I expected it earned its sales among soap-opera-watching, chain-smoking elderly ladies. I figured it would smell of sharp aldehydes, cheap white flowers, and rubbing alcohol. Boy was I wrong. White Diamonds Eau de Toilette is a gentle white floral chypre with a soft, clean feel. Spring-sweet and soapy fresh. Classic, really. I’m hooked.
It seems crazy, but when Parfums International launched White Diamonds in the fall of 1991, it was the first time a celebrity had released a second feminine fragrance. Elizabeth Taylor Passion for Women (1987) and Passion for Men had already hit the market…
Ranking second with $27 million in sales is Driven by Derek Jeter.
— Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds was the best-selling celebrity perfume last year, but Derek Jeter was number 2. Who knew? Number 3 was Beyoncé Heat. Read more at Top-Selling Celebrity Perfumes at Forbes.
But the perfume business was where she made a lot of her money - even last year, $77 million in sales. A lot of that was White Diamonds (the perfume). ... She was somebody who understood the power of her celebrity and started leveraging it more than 20 years ago.
— From Elizabeth Taylor's fortune may approach $1B at CBS News.
