Record $31M sale of biggest vivid pink diamond at Geneva auction

GENEVA, Switzerland — A 15.38-carat vivid pink diamond, the biggest of its kind to go on auction, was sold for a new record total of $31.56 million (27.88 million euros), Sotheby’s auction house said Tuesday.

Two telephone bidders battled for the prized jewel before some 150 people attending the auction held at a luxurious hotel in Geneva.

“It’s a new world record… It’s the highest price ever paid for a fancy vivid pink diamond,” said auctioneer David Bennett.

He added only that the buyer was a private individual from Asia.

Sotheby’s had valued the “exceptional” pear-shaped diamond, mounted on a ring, at between $28-38 million.

It was discovered less than five years ago in a South African mine. The seller was the New York-based company Cora International.

The stone with the name “Unique Pink” was certified a fancy vivid pink diamond, the most sought after color in pink diamonds, by the Gemmological Institute of America.

Also on Tuesday Sotheby’s sold a blue diamond, weighing 7.32 carats, for $17.1 million.

On Wednesday the magnificent spring jewel auctions continue in Geneva with what Christie’s says is the biggest ever vivid blue diamond to go on the auction block.

The 14.62-carat blue diamond, known as the “Oppenheimer Blue”, is estimated at between $38-45 million.

The jewel belonged to Britain’s Sir Philip Oppenheimer (1911-1995), a kingpin in the world diamond market for nearly 50 years at De Beers.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Beatles contract sold for £365,000 at London auction

LONDON, United Kingdom—The contract that launched the career of the Beatles was sold Tuesday in London for £365,000 (492,000 euros, $553,000), auction house Sotheby’s said.

The document was signed by John Lennon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with their manager Brian Epstein on October 1, 1962—four days before the release of their first single “Love Me Do.”

It was the only deal signed by the four final Beatles members with Epstein, who died from an accidental overdose in 1967 and was dubbed the “fifth Beatle” by McCartney.

The band had first signed a contract with Epstein when Pete Best was still the drummer. After his replacement by Starr less than nine months later, the two parties had to put pen to paper again.

“Without this contract, and the relationship it represents, it seems inconceivable that the Beatles could have achieved all that they did: it took more than inspired musicianship and song-writing to remake popular music,” said Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby’s specialist in books and manuscripts.

“The presentation, direction, and internal harmony of the Beatles all owed a huge amount to Brian Epstein.”

The new contract features the signatures of the musicians, with the fathers of McCartney and Harrison acting as co-signatories because their sons were younger than 21 at the time.

Under the contract, band members were required to give one month’s notice before leaving the group, while another clause stated that any member could be expelled “should two or more of them desire.”

The document also outlined the different commission rates that Epstein would receive for earnings of up to £400, up to £800 and more than £800 a week.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

‘Simpsons’ co-creator’s memorabilia, art goes to auction

NEW YORK — A pinball machine from “The Simpsons” and fun pinup art are among the items going to auction from the collection of the show’s co-creator Sam Simon.

Sotheby’s announced Thursday that it will be selling Simon’s entire personal collection of memorabilia, fine art and other objects in a series of sales through the fall and next year. It valued the collection between $7.7 million and $11.5 million.

Simon died from colon cancer March 8 in California at 59.

The 260-plus lots will be spread across 11 “various-owner” auctions, beginning Sept. 19 and ending in June 2016.

In addition, Sotheby’s will offer Simon’s memorabilia in a dedicated sale Oct. 22. Those items include a circa 1990 “The Simpsons” pinball machine with a presale estimate of $1,000 to $2,000 and a “Simpsons” jacket decorated with the show’s favorite characters for an estimated $600 to $800.

His art collection includes an August Rodin sculpture of the French writer Balzac estimated to bring up to $350,000. A painting of a boy and his dog by Thomas Hart Benton titled “T.P. and Jake” could sell for $1.5 million to $2.5 million.

“Each piece in Sam Simon’s collection embodies a central theme: The ability of art to tell a story,” Andrea Fiuczynski, chairwoman of Sotheby’s West Coast, said in a statement.

All proceeds will go to the Sam Simon Charitable Giving Foundation, which supports animal welfare, disaster relief and other causes.

After leaving “The Simpsons” in 1994, Simon shifted to philanthropy.

In an interview with The Associated Press in 2013, Simon said he wanted to spend all his money on charitable causes. “I’m supporting the charities that I supported during my lifetime,” he said, “and I want to continue to do that.”

After stints writing for “Taxi,” ”Cheers” and “The Tracey Ullman Show,” Simon helped launch “The Simpsons.” During his writing and producing career, he collected nine prime-time Emmy Awards.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Sotheby’s coming to source jewelry for auction

Could the Philippines be the source of the next world record-setting price for a piece of jewelry sold in an auction?

Jewelry has been fetching headline-making prices at recent auctions, and auction house Sotheby’s visits Manila this July to find potential jewelry consignees.

Sotheby’s broke records in May at its “magnificent and noble jewels auction” in Geneva. It’s likely hoping to replicate—and perhaps even surpass—them when it holds its autumn auctions in Hong Kong in October.

According to Sotheby’s, jewelry auctions have grown exponentially in Asia since the 1990s, and Hong Kong now stands alongside New York and Geneva as one of the major jewelry auction centers, where the world auction record prices for jadeite (US$27.4 million) and a fancy vivid pink diamond ($17.77 million) were made in 2014.

In 2013, the Hong Kong saleroom also sold a 118.28-carat oval D-color flawless diamond—the biggest diamond ever sold at an auction—for $30.6 million, also a world record.

Jewelry sales is on an upward trend. In 2014, it accounted for 21 percent of Sotheby’s auctions in Asia, amounting to $189.3 million.

High demand

“Now’s a good time to sell,” said Brett O’Connor, Sotheby’s senior director and senior international jewelry specialist, via phone from Geneva. “There are more buyers than sellers. There’s high demand and the supply is finite. The market is strong at the moment.”

O’Connor, a 22-year industry veteran, will visit Manila July 9 to source jewelry for sale and meet up with prospective consignees.

Based in Hong Kong in the early 2000s, he made similar sourcing trips to the Philippines in those years. He said he found Manila to be “a rich source of classical 20th-century pieces.”

This time he is on the lookout for “very high quality stones, single or set with pavé,” possibly from quality jewelers like Cartier and Van Cleef and Arpels.

At recent auctions, trend has shown collectors’ continued interest in colored gems, such that the 25.59-carat “Sunrise Ruby,” which fetched $30.3 million in Geneva in May, more than tripled the previous record for a ruby, set only in November also in the Swiss saleroom. It also set the record price per carat for a ruby.

The “extremely rare” Burmese ruby also set the world record price for a jewel by Cartier. The previous record was made in Hong Kong only last year, for the Hutton-Mdivani jadeite bead necklace, which sold for $27.4 million, more than double its estimated price.

World auction records

Recent headliners at the Sotheby’s salerooms also include the 8.72-carat “Historic Pink Diamond,” believed to be from the collection of a niece of Napoleon Bonaparte I, which sold for $15.9 million also in May; a pair of Burmese sapphire and diamond ear clips, a combined 32.67 carats ($3.4 million); and a 30.23-carat Kashmir sapphire and diamond brooch by Cartier ($6.1 million). It also sold a two-strand natural pearl and diamond necklace for a record $7 million.

O’Connor cited Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore as good sources of jewelry for sale, with a special mention of Bangkok for colored stones. All pieces sourced in the region are auctioned in Hong Kong, he said.

For jewelry sales at Sotheby’s Hong Kong, total transaction value from the Philippines, including buying and selling, more than tripled from 2010 to 2014, according to the auction house.

O’Connor, however, denied that there’s correlation of his visit to next year’s elections. An election year is a time when, typically, the economy seems rosier and buoyant for buyers, and property sellers are on a huff to divest or get stuck with the goods until after the elections.

The jewelry expert, who will do free valuations at Discovery Primea in Makati (contact Jennie.Leong@sothebys.com, tel. +85228228112 for details), said he’s looking for pieces valued at a minimum of $5,000. He typically asks for the story behind the piece, how it was acquired, or any other special details relating to the jewelry. Usually, potential sellers bring receipts.

“We respect privacy, and we understand if the consignee wishes to remain anonymous,” he said. “We also avoid controversy,” he added, such that they don’t deal with pieces of questionable provenance.

There are several factors that influence the spike in jewelry auction prices, he added, citing rarity, quality and beauty, as well as the piece’s history.

There’s also a broad range of auction buyers, including serious jewelry collectors and individuals looking for specific pieces, like an engagement ring, but don’t want to pay retail prices.

“You see, when you buy in an auction, you’re essentially paying for the sale market price,” he said.

“And we don’t use the word ‘investment’ when it comes to jewelry.” While it’s true that jewelry has the potential to appreciate in market value, he said, it’s not true all the time. The market can get flooded with a certain gem, for instance, which could bring down prices.

Instead, he said, you raise your paddle only for jewelry that you like.

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

eBay, Sotheby’s unveil tie-up on art auctions

NEW YORK—Highbrow art house Sotheby’s is opening a door to the masses in an alliance with Internet age online marketplace eBay.

The companies touted the tie-up as uniting eBay’s global clout with the “iconic international art” expertise of Sotheby’s famed auction house.

The eBay website will soon launch a revamped market for art and collectibles, featuring live auctions with real-time bidding from around the world. Sotheby’s was billed as the virtual venue’s “anchor tenant.”

The collaboration will begin with a series of live auctions from Sotheby’s headquarters in New York City.

The companies will also “explore themed and time-based sales, as well as live auctions from Sotheby’s other global salesrooms.”

“The growth of the art market, new generation technology and our shared strengths make this the right time for this exciting new online opportunity,” said Sotheby’s chief operating officer Bruno Vinciguerra.

“We are joining with eBay to make our sales more accessible to the broadest possible audience around the world.”

Sotheby’s says online bidders accounted for about 17 percent of the lots offered in 2013.

The number of lots purchased online at Sotheby’s last year jumped 36 percent from that seen in 2012, with an accompanying surge in bidders using smartphones or tablets to access the auction house online.

Mobile devices account for a quarter of the visits so far this year to people visiting sothebys.com

- $41,000 watch -

More than half of Sotheby’s lots sold in the $5,000 to $100,000 price range. The average price of a watch auctioned at Sotheby’s topped $41,000 while the average winning bid for a print was about $27,500.

John James Audubon’s elephant-folio “The Birds of America” sold in April 2014 for $3.5 million, setting a record for an online purchase in a live auction at Sotheby’s.

Devin Wenig, president of eBay Marketplaces, said the partnership “is a significant milestone in our efforts to expand the live auction market.”

“Sotheby’s is one of the most respected names in the world,” Wenig added.

“When you combine its inventory with eBay’s technology platform and global reach, we can give people access to the world’s finest, most inspiring items — any time, anywhere and from any device.”

California-based eBay has some 145 million customers in 190 countries, and says 36 million purchased some $8 billion in collectibles from the site in 2013.

According to surveys cited by the two firms, the global art market is currently estimated around $65 billion and online art sales could reach $13 billion by 2020.

By accessing eBay’s huge audience, Sotheby’s increases the potential for bidding competition and, by extension, bigger payoffs on art or collectibles put on the blocks.

“The more people bidding, the more money sellers make and the more money Sotheby’s makes; so it is sort of a natural,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

Sotheby’s will need to be cautious about dulling its reputation as a high-end auction house by rubbing elbows with eBay, which is known for bargains and oddities, according to the analyst.

source: technology.inquirer.net