It was in 1971, at the Rothschilds’ “Proust” Ball in the Château de Ferrières outside Paris, that Cecil Beaton captured a famous photograph of Elizabeth Taylor. It finds the starlet with her cheek resting in her hand, dressed in a ruffled Valentino gown with a plunging décolleté that reveals one of her famous diamonds tied to a velvet ribbon around her neck.

It wasn’t the only noteworthy piece of jewellery Hollywood’s most famous magpie wore that night. Clasped around her wrist: a sleek, gem-free bracelet, minimalist and industrial in spirit. It was the Cartier Love bracelet , and her other half Richard Burton was wearing one to match.

The simple gold bangle, punctuated with tiny screws, swiftly became a signature symbol of devotion for stylish couples: Steve McQueen and Ali MacGraw, S

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