The world’s largest cut emerald will auction

Owners of the world’s largest cut emerald – a 57,500-carat natural wonder – will auction off the gem later this month, and the bidding starts at $1 million.
The gem – called Teodora, or gift of God, in Portuguese – was mined in Brazil and sold to an Indian buyer, but little is known of the stone’s origins.
Teodora weighs 11.5 kilograms. It is actually the fifth largest emerald ever found but the biggest that’s been cut with facets.
The gem was never cut into smaller rocks for jewelry because it is opaque and not translucent. So the value resides in the fact it is so big.
The emerald will be sold at Western Star Auctions in Kelowna, British Columbia, on Jan. 28.
Source

Titanic items will be sold by Guernsey’s Auctioneers on April

Five thousand items recovered from the Atlantic grave of the Titanic, from a 17-ton piece of the hull to china used to serve first-class passengers, will go on auction in New York a century after the liner sank.

The unprecedented collection will be sold as a single lot by Guernsey’s Auctioneers on April 11, 100 years after Titanic’s maiden voyage in the city where the doomed ship had been destined when it was holed by an iceberg off Newfoundland.

Guernsey’s described the auction as “historic,” saying it was “the first and only sale of objects that have been recovered from the wreck site of Titanic 2.5 miles (four kilometers) below the ocean’s surface.”

The auctioneers estimate the lot will sell for a whopping US$189 million.

The items, a handful of which went on display Thursday, are a sometimes ghostly reminder of the 1,500 people who perished when the supposedly unsinkable White Star liner, sailing out of Southampton, England, went down.

Included are everything from shaving kits to children’s toys, tobacco pipes, and the brass buttons on the smart navy blue uniforms worn by Captain Edward Smith and his officers.

Hints of the glamorous life on board abound, such as crystal decanters from the first-class cabins, a battered chandelier from the A la Carte Restaurant, silver platters and blue-and-gold porcelain dishes.

Remnants of the great ship’s working parts will also be on the auction block.

The compass monitored by watch officers in the wheelhouse is for sale, along with a running light, a trio of bronze whistles from a funnel, and a bell.

Source

The $203,150 Hermès Crocodile Birkin

On Dec. 6, an anonymous bidder decided to pay $203,150 for a red Hermès Crocodile Birkin with White Gold & Diamond Hardware sold by Heritage Auctions in Dallas. This transaction has broken the record for the sale of a handbag at auction.
Birkin bags are handmade treasures by Hermès. The bags are somewhat symbols of great wealth because they are not easily obtained by the public. The bags were named after English-born actress and singer Jane Birkin and can typically fetch a price of as low as $9,000 to as high as $150,000, according to reports.
The price of the Birkin increases depending on the material it is made from.
Source

Marilyn Monroe’s wedding ring to be auctioned

Marilyn Monroe’s wedding ring from Joe DiMaggio will soon be adorning the finger of a very lucky woman as this ring is up for auction. The auction will take place in California auction house at a three-day event named as “Icons of Hollywood”. Other celebrity memorabilia will also be put on display at the sale that will take place from December 16th this year.

The wedding band is made of platinum and is adorned with 35 baguette-cut diamonds that Monroe wore at her wedding on January 14 1954. She eloped to get married to Joe DiMaggio but was later divorced in one year. The ring is expected to fetch more than $300,000.

Source

A biscuit sold for $2,000 at Christie's.

A biscuit which polar explorer Ernest Shackleton handed to a starving fellow traveller on an expedition more than 100 years ago sold at the British auction house Christie’s on Thursday for US $2,000 The biscuit, one of thousands which formed the staple diet for Shackleton and his companions on the 1907-1909 Nimrod expedition.
Made especially for the expedition by British company Huntley and Palmers, the biscuits were fortified with milk protein to help the group on their arduous journey.
The explorers were forced to turn back after battling to within 100 miles of the pole. Their return journey became a race against starvation, with the group surviving on half rations.
At one point Shackleton handed fellow explorer Frank Wild one of his own biscuits, prompting Wild to record in his diary: “Thousands of pounds would not have bought that biscuit.”
The biscuit was left at the hut at Cape Royds in the Antarctic where Shackleton was based during the expedition and is perfectly preserved. Nicholas Lambourn, a director at Christie’s, said ahead of the auction that the biscuits were designed to provide the explorers with maximum stamina but they lacked a crucial ingredient.
Source

Elizabeth Taylor's auction at Christie's

Christie’s has revealed the main lots of the jewelry collection of Oscar-winning actress Elizabeth Taylor to be auctioned in New York this December.

The 269-piece collection went on an eight-city tour including London, Los Angeles, Dubai, Geneva, Paris and Hong Kong, beginning in Moscow.

Source

Madonna auctions her pair of black and white Chanel boots

Madonna has contributed a pair of black and white Chanel boots (preworn and autographed) for afundraising auction being held at her daughter Lourdes’ school, LaGuardia High School, a public high school located in New York City’s Upper West Side. This school is often referrred to as “The Fame School,” for the movie which was inspired by it. More recently, Alicia Keys and Nick Minaj are a couple of its more famous attendees and there are many, many more. Not sure what program Lourdes is a part of, but whatever it is, she had to try out for her spot. Laguardia is one of a handful of highly-ranked New York City public high schools for which you have to meet very high test-in or try-out entry standards to be admitted. As for what those boots may bring to the school, the highest bid at the moment is $2,860, with three days left.
Source