Pink diamond fetches $26.6M at Sotheby's Geneva sale

GENEVA -- An extremely rare, purple-pink diamond mined in Russia, which Sotheby's described as "a true wonder of nature," sold for 24.4 million Swiss francs ($26.6 million) on Wednesday, the auction house said.

Sotheby's had estimated that the flawless oval gem, "The Spirit of the Rose," could fetch $23 million to $38 million at the Geneva sale.

Bidding opened at 16 million Swiss francs and climbed to the final hammer price of 21 million Swiss francs, plus commission. It was bought by a telephone bidder who chose to remain anonymous, Sotheby's said.

Jewelry expert Benoit Repellin, who led the sale, said it set a record for a diamond graded fancy vivid purple pink sold at auction. The stone weighing 14.83 carats was the largest pink diamond with that color grading to go on the block.

The diamond was named after a ballet performed by the Ballets Russes and its legendary dancer Vaslav Nijinsky in 1911.

Mined by Russian diamond producer Alrosa in July 2017, it was cut from the largest pink crystal ever found in the country, Sotheby's said.

The diamond was shown in Hong Kong, Singapore and Taipei.

Colored stones have been greatly valued as an asset class by the super rich in recent years with top-quality pink diamonds especially prized.

The Argyle mine in western Australia, which produced the world's largest supply of pink diamonds, halted production last week due to depletion.

"The lucky buyer could well profit from prices soaring for pink diamonds in the coming years thanks to increased rarity," Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77 Diamonds, Europe's largest online diamond jeweler, said in a statement.

Naturally colored diamonds occur because they possess a particular lattice structure that refracts light to produce colored, rather than white, stones.

-reuters-

Michael Jordan's first Air Jordans up for auction at Sotheby's

An autographed and well-worn pair of basketball legend Michael Jordan's Nike shoes hits the auction block at Sotheby's on Friday, in a celebrity-infused test of the market for sneakers as highly-prized collectibles.

The Air Jordan 1s, designed for Jordan in 1985 and the first ever signature sneakers, are expected to fetch between $100,000 to $150,000 in the online auction that closes on May 17, Sotheby's in New York said.

Sotheby's, better known for selling multimillion-dollar art, last year held its first auction dedicated entirely to sneakers. It set a new world record of $437,500 for a pair of 1972 Nike running shoes, known as the "Moon Shoe."

The white, black and red Air Jordan 1 sneakers up for auction on Friday have red laces, are signed by Jordan, and show frequent wear by the former Chicago Bulls player. Like most of Jordan's basketball shoes, they are a mismatched pair in a size 13 (left) and size 13.5 (right), Sotheby's said.

The shoes are being sold by collector Jordan Geller, founder of the sneaker museum Shoezeum, where they were previously on display in Las Vegas. They were the "crown jewel" of the museum, drawing fans and collectors from all over the world, according to Geller.

The auction coincides with the 35th anniversary of the Air Jordan brand and the screening of the last episode of the 10-part ESPN television documentary "The Last Dance" about the Chicago Bulls and Jordan.

"With all the excitement surrounding Michael Jordan and 'The Last Dance,' my wife and I decided that it's time to let the shoes find a new home," Geller said in a statement.

-reuters-

‘First’ Porsche model fails to sell in bungled auction

As the curtains parted, the frenzied car aficionados raced to get out their smartphones to capture the moment for posterity. Several of them cheered.

They had come to see Lot No. 362, the much-heralded Porsche Type 64, a swooping Nazi-era car that was built by automaker Ferdinand Porsche 9 years before he founded his car company.

The bidding on the avant-garde coupe, referred to by some car collectors as the “first” Porsche, had been expected to open at $13 million during an RM Sotheby’s Auction on Saturday night in Monterey, California. But something went awry, and the bidding started much higher than planned.

“When they mentioned 30 million to start, I thought that’s quite a strong starting price,” David Lee, a car collector and businessman from the Los Angeles area who was in the audience, said in an interview Sunday. The auctioneer had an accent, he said, “and didn’t say the teens well. Is he really saying 30 or 13?”

It was not entirely clear if the auctioneer’s accent, an error on the display screen or some combination of the two caused the confusion. The bidders were supposed to be bidding in increments of $1 million or less, but the screen showed them bidding in increments of $10 million.

In the frenzy, the high bid of $30 million zoomed up to $40 million. Then it hit $50 million and $60 million, before landing at $70 million. That would have been substantially higher than the record $48.4 million a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO fetched last year at another Sotheby’s auction.

That’s when the auctioneer abruptly declared that the high bid was actually $17 million, not $70 million.

What should have been the high point of the Monterey Car Week devolved into chaos, with car buffs gasping and groaning over the blunder. The one-of-a-kind Porsche, built for an unrealized road race on Germany’s new autobahn, through the Austrian Alps to Rome, failed to sell, and the auction was halted.

“As bidding opened on the Type 64, increments were mistakenly displayed on the screen, causing unfortunate confusion in the room,” RM Sotheby’s said in a statement Sunday. “We take pride in conducting our world-class auctions with integrity, and we take our responsibility to our clients very seriously.”

It did not name the auctioneer.

On Friday night, a $19.8 million sale of a McLaren F1 LM-Specification went off without a hitch. The auction house, which made news last year when a painting by British street artist Banksy sold for $1.4 million and then self-destructed, sought to tamp down any conjecture that this had been a publicity stunt.

“This was in no way intentional on behalf of anyone at RM Sotheby’s, rather an unfortunate misunderstanding amplified by excitement in the room,” the auction house said.

Bidders were required to register for the auction and were given numbered paddles, according to people in the audience. Although the classic rally car received a high bid of $17 million, RM Sotheby’s said that did not meet the “reserve,” which is a minimum price set by the seller.

John Bothwell, director of Pur Sang, an international automotive manufacturer, said in a phone interview Monday that the car world is still buzzing after the episode

“Conspiracy theories are abounding,” said Bothwell, who attended the auction. “It was a screw-up and, chiefly, it let the air out of the balloon when it went from $70 million to $17 million,” Bothwell said.

Bothwell said the auction company has a strong track record in the car auction world.

“I don’t really go along with the attitude that they should be booed,” he said. “Everybody has off-days.”

Just 3 of the Porsche-designed Type 64s were planned for production and only one remains. The car’s modified, air-cooled Volkswagen four-cylinder engine puts out about 32 horsepower and can reach a top speed of about 88 mph.

The car was supposed to be part of a propaganda campaign, marking the Nazis’ 1938 alliance with Italy and the absorption of Austria. Porsche also designed the KdF-Wagen, commissioned by Hitler as the people’s car, which became famous after the war as the Volkswagen Beetle.

Chris Harris of the British series “Top Gear” fawned over the Porsche Type 64 during a recent test drive.

“This is like breaking into a safe somewhere in America,” he said. “Someone finds an old safe in a building, and you crack it open and you find a little book that says ‘This is the recipe for Coca-Cola.’ ” That what this is in a car.”

An Instagram video of the auction posted by Lee, the collector, received more than 212,000 views as of Sunday night.

Lee said he had difficulty understanding the Sotheby’s auctioneer all weekend.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” he said. “It’s really an amazing situation that we witnessed.”

RM Sotheby’s was still advertising the car on its auction website. Sotheby’s acquired an ownership interest in RM Auctions, which specializes in vintage cars, in early 2015.

“We will continue making every effort to sell the car,” the auction house said.

Lee did not come away from the Monterey auctions empty-handed.

“I’m more of a Ferrari collector,” said Lee, who posted the winning bid on a 1967 Ferrari 330 GTS auctioned by Gooding & Company.

He declined to say how much the winning bid was.


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Over the moon: Nike sneakers sell for record $437,500

A new world record for a pair of sneakers was set at auction on Tuesday when an avid collector splashed out $437,500 on Nike's 1972 "Moon Shoe," Sotheby's said.

The sale smashed the previous record of $190,373 spent in 2017 on a pair of signed Converse worn by Michael Jordan in the 1984 Olympic basketball final, the New York-headquartered auction house said in a statement.

It was also well above the pre-sale estimate of $160,000, Sotheby's added.

Canadian collector Miles Nadal was the successful bidder in the online action, adding to the 99 pairs of other hard-to-find shoes that he bought in a private sale last week.

"I am thrilled to acquire the iconic Nike 'Moon Shoes,' one of the rarest pairs of sneakers ever produced, and a true historical artifact in sports history and pop culture," Nadal said.

Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman designed the flat racing "Moon Shoe," which was made for runners at the 1972 Olympic trials. 

Sotheby's said that just around 12 pairs were manufactured and that the set sold Tuesday was "one of only a handful of pairs known to exist".

"We are excited the iconic Nike Moon Shoe achieved more than double the previous world auction record for a sneaker today," said Sotheby's global e-commerce head Noah Wunsch.

The auction house joined up with streetwear marketplace Stadium Goods to sell 100 of the rarest sneakers ever made.

The 61-year-old Nadal spent $850,000 buying 99 of them privately on Wednesday with organizers holding back the 'Moon Shoe' for a public sale.

Nadal plans to display the footwear, which includes Nike sneakers based on those worn by Marty McFly in hit movie "Back to the Future II," at his private museum in Toronto.

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$160,000 Nike shoes star in first-of-its kind Sotheby's auction

NEW YORK -- Move over Monet. Nike is hot on your heels.

Sotheby's in New York announced on Thursday its first-ever auction dedicated to sneakers, underlining their fast-growing status as collectibles able to command tens of thousands of dollars.

Sotheby's is teaming up with streetwear marketplace Stadium Goods to auction 100 pairs of the rarest sneakers ever produced, including a sample of one of the first Nike Inc running shoes with a pre-sale high estimate of $160,000 (P8.2 million).

The Nike "Moon Shoe" is one of only 12 pairs created. It was designed by Nike co-founder and track coach Bill Bowerman for runners at the 1972 Olympics trials and the pair up for auction is handmade, Stadium Goods said.

Other sneakers include 2011 and 2016 versions of the "Back to the Future Part II" limited-edition shoes by Nike that were inspired by the 1989 film starring Michael J. Fox.

The 2016 version of the futuristic shoe, complete with self-lacing technology, is expected to sell for between $50,000 and $70,000.

"We’ve long talked about how sneakers are this generation’s luxury fashion, and being able to collaborate with a brand with the history and esteem of Sotheby’s is further proof of that," John McPheters, co-founder of New York-based Stadium Goods, said in a statement.

Other shoes in the online sale, beginning on Thursday and ending on July 23, include sought-after and limited-edition sneakers produced by Adidas, Air Jordan and rapper Kanye West's Yeezy collection.

Noah Wunsch, global head of eCommerce at Sotheby's, said the sneaker sale was bringing together "art, culture and fashion" and marked another step in the auction house's expansion of offerings of highly coveted luxury goods.

The shoes are on public exhibit at Sotheby's in New York through July 23.

The highest price fetched at public auction for sneakers is thought to be $190,373 in 2017 for a pair of signed Converse shoes said to have been worn by Michael Jordan in the 1984 Olympic basketball final. The shoes were auctioned through California sports memorabilia company SCP.

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Rubens drawing fetches $8.2 million at controversial auction

NEW YORK -- A drawing by Flemish Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens sold for $8.2 million in an auction in New York on Wednesday that was criticized by some in the Netherlands who said the work should have been offered to a Dutch museum. 

Sotheby's described the small, rectangular "Nude Study of a Young Man with Raised Arms" as a key piece in the development of one of the artist's pivotal commissions, and one of only a handful of drawings of comparable importance by Rubens to have come on the market in the last half century.

Depicting a muscular, nearly nude young man who strains as he pushes an unseen weight above his head, the drawing was used in the preparation of Ruben's famous "Raising of the Cross" triptych, painted in 1610.

It was acquired by the Dutch royal family in 1838 by Prince William of Orange, who became the Netherlands's King William II. 

Unlike many monarchies, the Orange-Nassau dynasty, whose fortune Forbes magazine estimated to be $220 million in 2011, owns personal assets separate from the institution's official holdings. 

Dutch museums responded with criticism in recent weeks after the announcement that several works of art from the royal collection would be put up for auction.

Some believed that Princess Christina, who owned the Rubens drawing sold Wednesday, should have given museums the chance to buy the work, which they see as part of Dutch cultural heritage, before selling it at auction abroad. 

Members of the D66 party, which is part of the governing coalition, also expressed reservations about the sale, before Culture Minister Ingrid van Engelshoven cut short the debate, saying the decision of whether or not to sell a work of art was up to the owner. 

Prime Minister Mark Rutte added it was a "private matter."

"It's an important distinction here that this drawing is actually the private property of a private individual," head of old master drawings at Sotheby's Greg Rubenstein. 

"It doesn't belong to a royal collection or a public collection. As such, the owner is entirely able to do what they will, which includes selling."

After several hectic minutes marked by a bidding battle between an in-person buyer and another over the phone Wednesday, the drawing finally sold for $7 million, which came to a total of $8.2 million after fees and commissions -- much higher than Sotheby's $2.5 to $3.5 million estimate. The buyer was not identified.

The previous record for a drawing from a Dutch master was set during a 2014 Christie's sale in London, when the only known preparatory drawing from Ruben's "Samson and Delilah" went for 3.2 million pounds ($5.5 million). 

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Sinatra auction fetches $9.2 million in New York

NEW YORK -- It was definitely "All" rather than "Nothing at All" at a Frank Sinatra auction in New York, where items owned by the late icon and his fourth wife fetched $9.2 million, Sotheby's said Friday.

And 99 percent of the lots, spread out this week in the US financial and entertainment capital, and online, were snapped up, attracting 300 bidders from more than 30 countries, the auction house announced.

Up for grabs was furniture, art and personal effects dating back to the couple's 22-year marriage -- art and furniture from their homes in Palm Springs, Los Angeles and Malibu -- as well as scripts and screenplays.

The top lot was Barbara Sinatra's 20-carat diamond engagement ring, given to her in the bottom of a champagne glass, which went for $1.7 million.

Many of the items fetched substantially more than their pre-sale estimates.

They included a Norman Rockwell portrait of Sinatra, which the singer commissioned, sold for $687,000 and a script for "From Here to Eternity," the movie for which he won an Oscar, went for $35,000.

The USA Drinking Team jacket marked "Coach" that Sinatra wore for nights on the town with his friends sold for $35,000 -- 70 times its $500 estimate.

A police badge given to Sinatra by Essex County New Jersey and inscribed "chairman of the board, Frank Sinatra" went for a whopping $18,750 and a hand-crocheted yarmulke emblazoned with Frank's name fetched $9,375.

Of the memorabilia tracing Sinatra's friendship with every US president from Harry Truman to Bill Clinton, a color photograph inscribed by Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan sold for $68,750.

The son of Italian immigrants and born in New Jersey in 1915, Sinatra was one of the best loved entertainers of the 20th century with hits such as "Strangers in the Night," "My Way" and "All or Nothing at All."

He first married teenage sweetheart Nancy Barbato (1939-1949), with whom he had three children, then Hollywood stars Ava Gardner (1951-57) and Mia Farrow (1966-68). He married Barbara in 1976. She died last year.

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Picasso painting of muse, future lover fetches record $69 million

LONDON - A Pablo Picasso portrait of his muse Marie-Therese Walter with future lover Dora Maar emerging from the shadows fetched £50 million (57 million euros, $69 million) at a London sale Wednesday, a European auction record for a painting.

The 1937 "Femme au Beret et a la Robe Quadrillee (Marie-Therese Walter)" beat expectations it would sell for £36 million (41 million euros, $50 million) at the sale of impressionist, surrealist and modern art at auction house Sotheby's.


It was the first time the oil on canvas had emerged on the international art market and headlined the auctioneer's first major sale of the year, it said.

The identity of the seller, and its new owner, were not released.

"It's an incredibly important museum quality picture," James Mackie, director of the impressionist and modern art department at Sotheby's, told AFP last week.

"It comes from a key era in Picasso's career, 1937, when he makes the great painting 'Guernica'," he added, referring to the masterpiece which portrayed the horrors of the Nazi bombardment of a Basque city during the Spanish civil war. 

The painting also has a strong autobiographical appeal, according to Mackie.

The main subject, Marie-Therese Walter, was the Spanish painter's "long time lover and muse". 

But the looming figure of Dora Maar, whom he met in 1936, emerges in the shadows behind Marie-Therese, explained Mackie.

Several masterpieces have reached astronomical prices at recent auctions, fuelled by the opening of major museums in the Gulf and the purchasing power of collectors from emerging countries.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman acquired Leonardo da Vinci work "Salvator Mundi" for $450 million in November 2017.

"The market for masterpieces is at an unprecedented levels, and this picture certainly sits very much in that masterpiece category," said Mackie.

Three other Picasso works went under the hammer, including "Le Matador", which sold for £16.5 million (18.6 million euros, $22.7 million).

Sotheby's also sold 3 rediscovered Salvador Dali paintings, including "Maison pour Erotomane" (circa 1932), which went for £3.5 million after a five-way bidding battle, it said.

"Gradiva" (1931), depicting the mythological figure who became central to surrealist thought, fetched £2.7 million (3 million euros, $3.7 million).

Both small oil works were in a private collection in Argentina, having been bought directly from the artist in the 1930s by his friend, Argentinean countess Cuevas de Vera.

"They are a rediscovery, which is incredibly exciting," Mackie said of the works.

Sotheby's said the 36 lots sold Wednesday, which also included a 1912 Umberto Boccioni painting, totaled an above-expected £136 million

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'Rarest white diamond ever' to be auctioned in London

LONDON - A flawless diamond, the size of a large strawberry, is expected to fetch a world record price when it goes on sale at Sotheby's in London this month.

Weighing just over 102 carats, the round, brilliant white stone is smaller than a 163-carat oval diamond sold in Hong Kong in 2013, which currently holds the record price per carat.

But Sotheby's, which also handled that Hong Kong sale, expects the smaller stone's rarity and high quality will see it attract an even higher price.

"That (stone sold in Hong Kong) fetched $260,000 a carat, currently the world record for any colourless diamond. This one being a round brilliant cut - the asking price will be north of that," Patti Wong, chairman of Sotheby's Diamonds told Reuters.

The diamond is the only stone over 100 carats to have been given the highest grades in every criteria by the Gemological Institute of America, which judges a precious stone's quality, Sotheby's said.

It has not disclosed the asking price for the stone, which will be sold in a private sale. (Writing by Mark Hanrahan in London; Editing by Susan Fenton)

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World's largest pink diamond fails to sell at Sotheby's auction

GENEVA - "The Raj Pink," the largest known diamond graded "fancy intense pink" for its rare color, was among several major jewels stranded on the auction block on Wednesday at Sotheby's sale in Geneva.

The cushion-shaped stone, weighing 37.30 carats and mounted on a ring, was billed as the star lot at Sotheby's semi-annual jewellery sale in the Swiss city. The pre-sale estimate for the diamond, found in South Africa in 2015, was $20 million to $30 million.

Bidding opened on "The Raj Pink" at 9.9 million Swiss francs ($10.02 million) and climbed to 14 million Swiss francs before stalling.

"It was not sold," David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby's international jewellery division who conducted the auction, told the crowded sale room.

Other major lots were left on the block, failing to meet the secret reserve price set by their sellers.

They included a blue diamond ring by Moussaieff, where the last bid was 12.4 million Swiss francs, and a pair of yellow diamonds that formerly belonged to the German princely family of Von Donnersmarck, which reached 7.8 million Swiss francs but failed to find a new owner.

Only 303 of the 349 lots found new owners, according to Sotheby's figures. In all, the sale netted 77.9 million francs.

A Harry Winston light pink diamond ring, described as an "absolutely sensationally beautiful stone" by Bennett, brought the strongest price of the night.

It sold for 12.6 million Swiss francs to a telephone bidder who purchased it from a European noble family which owned it since the piece was made by the New York jeweller around 1970, Sotheby's said.

"Pieces must be exceptional to sell today at the same level as two years ago," Eric Valdieu, a Geneva-based jewelery dealer formerly of Christie's, told Reuters after the auction.

The Raj Pink was not an easy stone to sell, he said, adding: "It was a modern, recent stone and not a 10 out of 10 in terms of its colour and form. It had no history," Valdieu said.

Another prominent dealer told Reuters: "It's a big disappointment. The timing was not good."

Tobias Kormind, managing director of 77Diamonds.com, Europe's largest online diamond jeweller, said in a statement: "I'm worried for the top end of the diamond market."

At rival Christie's on Tuesday night, an emerald and diamond necklace set with the largest flawless white diamond ever to come to auction sold for a world record 33.5 million Swiss francs ($34 million), the star lot at its Geneva sale.

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World's biggest uncut diamond sells for $53-M

British jeweler Graff said Tuesday it has purchased the world's largest uncut diamond –roughly the size of a tennis ball –for $53 million (44.5 million euros).

Canadian miner Lucara Diamond sold to Graff the 1,109-carat gem, the Lesedi La Rona, which was found in Botswana's Karowe mine in late 2015.

"We are thrilled and honoured to become the new custodians of this incredible diamond," said company chairman, Laurence Graff, in a statement.

"The stone will tell us its story, it will dictate how it wants to be cut, and we will take the utmost care to respect its exceptional properties."

Lucara confirmed the hefty price tag in a statement issued in Vancouver.

"The discovery of the Lesedi La Rona was a company defining event for Lucara," said William Lamb, president and chief executive of Lucara.

"It solidified the amazing potential and rareness of the diamonds recovered at the Karowe mine."

The rough diamond had previously failed to meet its reserve price of more than $70 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2016.

Graff is already the owner of a 373-carat diamond, which was bought earlier this year and formed part of the original stone.

Lesedi La Rona means "our light" in Botswana's Tswana language. It could be cut into smaller gems for jewelry or left whole in a private collection.

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Prized 1804 US dollar sells for $3.3-M at auction

An 1804 US silver dollar sold for $3.3 million in one of a series of auctions that brought in a record total of more than $100 million for a renowned private coin collection, organizers said on Saturday.

The silver dollar, one of only eight of its kind, was snapped up at auction on Friday in Baltimore. It was one of more than 200 coins sold at the event.

The auction series, beginning in 2015, generated a total of nearly $107 million in sales, according to Stack's Bowers Galleries, which conducted the auctions along with Sotheby's.

The collection belonged to Dallas real estate developer Mack Pogue and his son Brent, who had collected coins since the 1970s. Coin dealers Kevin Lipton of California and John Albanese of New Jersey jointly bought the prized silver dollar, Donn Pearlman, a spokesman for the two men, said in an email.

"In coins, everybody's heard of the 1804 dollar, it's what I call the ultimate trophy coin," said Q. David Bowers, co-founder of Stack's Bowers Galleries.

The coin is emblazoned with the bust of a woman with flowing hair who represents liberty. Minted by the US government, it was intended as a gift for foreign heads of state.

Brent Pogue began collecting coins in 1974 when he was a teenager and later brought his father into the enterprise.

The first coin the younger Pogue bought was at an auction of the trove that belonged to railroad scion T. Harrison Garrett. In a fitting finale of the Pogue Collection auctions, the last sale was held at the Garrett family's former mansion at Johns Hopkins University, Bowers said by phone.

Mack and Brent Pogue's collection consisted of more than 650 pieces. The father and son sold them because "the thrill of the chase" of being collectors had passed and they wanted to move on, Bowers said.

Even before Friday's sale, the Pogue auctions had already surpassed the value of what had been the record-setting sale of the collection amassed by late dealer and collector John J. Ford.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles; Editing by Tom Brown)

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'Star Wars' memorabilia fetches more than $500,000

NEW YORK, United States - "Star Wars" super fans snapped up some of the space film saga's rarest merchandise on the planet for more than $500,000 at auction on Friday, Sotheby's announced in New York.

More than 600 items found new homes in the sale organized by Sotheby's and eBay -- just days before the release of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," the seventh movie in arguably the world's biggest movie franchise.

The space epics have grossed billions of dollars at the box office worldwide since the first film came out in 1977 and spawned a pop culture phenomenon, drawing legions of hardcore fans.

All items in the auction came from the private collection of Japanese designer and creative entrepreneur Nigo, who started collecting toys and figures decades ago at just six years old.

The online auction netted combined sales of $502,202, Sotheby's said.

The most expensive lot was a pristine, unopened packet of seven action figures from "The Empire Strikes Back" which fetched $32,500 -- three times the estimate.

Two complete sets of "Power of the Force" coins, which were available only by special request from the manufacturer Kenner, sold for $27,500.

A Luke Skywalker doll, which hit the market in 1978 as a children's toy, sold for $25,000, above its upper estimate of $18,000.

Also never removed from the packaging, it is one of only 20 confirmed examples of the doll, Sotheby's said.

The figurine, with a rare two-piece telescoping lightsaber, was quickly withdrawn from the market "due to the propensity for the lightsaber to snap off," Sotheby's said.

There was also a strong market in helmets. A replica of a "Star Wars: A New Hope" Stormtrooper from 2007 fetched $8,125, the auction house said.

Sotheby's consultant James Gallo says the results demonstrated the quality of Nigo's collection and the enduring appeal of the 'Star Wars' universe.

"We set a number of benchmark prices today, reflecting the strength of this market," he said.

Sotheby's, set up in 18th century London and best known for selling fine art masterpieces, called in Gallo to value the collection, which he spent a week and a half sorting through.

From the United States to Russia to China, the franchise has a fan base spanning generations. The films' psychology has even found its way onto university syllabuses.

"It's merchandised more than most," the Pennsylvania-based Gallo, who owns store Toy and Comics Heaven, told AFP last week.

"There isn't much that can compare."

He said that "Star Wars" collectors would proudly display their hard-won memorabilia like anything else -- and certainly would not snap open the packets and play with the dolls.

"It's up to each individual how they enjoy the items they have. It's just like anything else, whether it be fine art or sports collectibles," Gallo said.

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