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NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A Rolex watch worn by a British prisoner during the real-life “Great Escape” from the Nazi Stalag Luft III prisoner-of-war camp sold for $189,000 on Thursday in New York. The final sum for the timepiece, sold to an anonymous buyer, was less than the $200,000 and $400,000 expected by Christie’s. The watch was worn by Gerald Imeson on the night of March 24, 1944, when a group of Allied […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – “The Enigma”, the world’s largest known cut diamond at 555 carats, went under the hammer in London on Wednesday for £3.16 million ($4.3 million, 3.8 million euros) having recently gone on display for the first time. The rare black, or carbanado, diamond is believed to have been created when a meteorite or an asteroid hit Earth more than 2.6 billion years ago. The 555.55 carat, 55-faced diamond reached £3.16 million, excluding the […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A flawless 102-carat oval diamond will head to auction on October 5 in Hong Kong at Sotheby’s. The auction house has not given an official price estimate for the egg-shaped stone of exactly 102.39 carats, which has the highest color grade, D, for a white diamond and is rated Type IIA for its chemical purity and exceptional transparency. Quig Bruning, Sotheby’s New York head of jewelry, said the house […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — The towel that Kobe Bryant wore over his shoulders during his farewell speech after his final National Basketball League game has fetched over $33,000 at auction, the US media said on Sunday. With the towel draped around him to help mop up his sweat, the Los Angeles Lakers superstar closed his speech with his signature phrase, “Mamba Out.” The towel ended up in the hands of a fan as […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The first comic book produced by Marvel, the famed US publisher behind Spider-Man, X-Men and The Avengers, went under the hammer Thursday, fetching a record $1.26 million, Heritage Auctions said. “This is a historic copy of a historic comic book,” Ed Jaster, auction house senior vice president, said of the book, which was published in 1939 by Timely Comics, which later became Marvel. “Without question, this is the granddaddy of […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese bidder may be feeling the pinch after forking out $46,000 at auction for a snow crab — a price that “probably set a new world record”, local officials said Thursday. The winter seafood delicacy is in season from this week in the western Tottori region, where the crustacean was snapped up for a final price of five million yen. In Japan, buyers often pay eye-watering sums to secure a […]
by Célia Lebur LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — First there was Tutu, the “African Mona Lisa” sold last year for 1.5 million dollars. Then a second portrait by revered Nigerian painter Ben Enwonwu, called Christine, sold in mid-October, for 1.4 million dollars. Both record sales of famous works by the late “father of African modernism”, captured the emergence of Nigeria’s art market. A decade ago, major African artists were largely absent from international auctions. But the […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Darth Vader’s helmet from “The Empire Strikes Back” is among a vast collection of coveted Hollywood treasures going under the hammer next month, with experts predicting it could fetch nearly $500,000. The mask and helmet is one of only a handful worn by actor David Prowse, who played Luke Skywalker’s nemesis and — spoiler alert — father on-screen in the 1980 “Star Wars” blockbuster, making them the “holy grail” […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A Claude Monet painting from his celebrated “Meules” (Haystacks) series drew $110.7 million in New York on Tuesday in an auction record for the French Impressionist master. The sale at Sotheby’s — the first time the work had come to auction since 1986 — fetched one of the 10 highest prices ever seen at auction. The total, which includes fees and the commission, was more than 44 times higher […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A drawing by late South African president Nelson Mandela of the door of his prison cell on Robben Island — where he was held for 18 years — sold on Thursday in New York for $112,575. “The Cell Door, Robben Island” — completed in 2002 by the Nobel peace laureate — exceeded the top end of the estimated range provided by Bonhams, which put its value at $60,000 to […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — A sweeping range of Frank Sinatra memorabilia and jewelry owned by his fourth and last wife Barbara goes on sale in New York on Thursday, likely to be snapped up by mega fans and aficionados all over the world. The single most expensive lot, the enormous 20-karat diamond engagement ring that Sinatra gave Barbara in a champagne glass has already sold, fetching $1.7 million in a battle between two […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — A section of stairs from the Eiffel Tower in Paris sold for almost 170,000 euros on Tuesday, auctioneers announced, around three times the pre-sale estimate. More than two dozen wrought-iron steps from the original spiral structure, from between the second and third floors of the Paris landmark, were sold to a Middle East collector for 169,000 euros ($190,000) after a bidding-war in the French capital. Auction house Artcurial originally estimated the […]
