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.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

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)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

'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.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Sotheby's appraises Imelda Marcos' rare pink diamond

A rare barrel-shaped pink diamond was among the items in Imelda Marcos's jewelry collection appraised by Sotheby's on Friday in Manila.

A jewellery specialist from Sotheby's, Brett O'Connor, said the pieces, made of gem stones like diamonds, rubies and emeralds, were of high quality and good manufacture. Some appeared to be custom-made, while others were from a jeweller's stock, he said.

Manila may decide to auction the collections after the two leading auction houses -- Christie's and Sotheby's -- appraise three sets of jewellery confiscated from the Marcoses almost three decades ago.

"I think it bodes very favourably. It's a very wide and varied collection. So there's no reason to believe that it wouldn't do well at auction," O'Connor said, while refusing to disclose the recent valuation of the collections.

In 1991, the jewellery collections were valued at $6-8 million. O'Connor said some of the valuations may have increased or decreased based on fashion trends, colour and price of diamonds.

The collection appraised on Friday was seized in Hawaii, where the Marcos family was exiled.

Among the jewels was an pink diamond 24mm (15/16 inch) in diameter.

"Pink diamonds are always rare, rarer than white diamonds. The rarest is red, and then blue and green, and then pink, and then yellow, and then white. Yes, it's a rare thing, and it's a very large size, and it's a lovely old stone," O'Connor said.

Other items included a Cartier tiara, and full necklace-ring-earrings sets encrusted with precious stones like rubies, sapphires and emeralds.

The government tried to auction the jewellery in 2005, but the former beauty queen contested the move, claiming ownership of two of the collections -- one found in the presidential palace after the family's hasty departure in 1986 and the one confiscated in Hawaii.


Marcos, an elected member of Congress and best known for leaving behind more than 1,200 pairs of shoes when her family fled in 1986, has vowed to recover the family's seized assets. The government also confiscated a collection of paintings including Monets and a Picasso and is hunting for 200 missing art works.

Proceeds from a possible auction could go to human rights victims claiming compensation who filed cases against abuse under the Marcos regime, the Presidential Commission on Good Government said.

"I guess in a way it can be some sort of justice. Of course, it can never compensate what has happened to them (human rights victims). But one way or another, after 30 years, slowly, we're getting back what was taken from us."

Imelda's husband, Ferdinand, was president for nearly two decades, before he was ousted in an army-backed uprising in 1986. The dictator, who died in exile in 1989, was accused of amassing more than $10 billion while in office. The family denies their wealth was ill-gotten.

The government allowed the press to see and film some of the 750 pieces of the three collections, which were kept in a vault at the central bank.

Christie's and Sotheby's were invited by the Philippine government, and carried out the appraisal free of charge.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

World's top auction houses set to appraise Marcos jewelry

Representatives from the world's largest auction house are in Manila to appraise three sets of Marcos jewels which are stored at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Christie's and Sotheby's are set to appraise the jewels including the Malacañang collection, which was abandoned when the Marcoses fled the Palace; the Hawaii collection, seized by the US Bureau of Customs upon the Marcoses' arrival in Hawaii in 1986; and the Roumeliotes collection that Demetriou Roumeliotes attempted to smuggle out of the country after the ouster of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

A 1991 assessment valued the three jewelry collections at 5 to 7 million dollars.

Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) Chair Richard Amurao said the appraisal is a significant step in determining the jewels' current value, which will also open the way for determining a final resolution on the assets.

- ANC, Market Edge, November 24, 2015

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Contract that launched The Beatles up for sale

LONDON, United Kingdom - The contract that launched the career of The Beatles will be sold in London later this month and is expected to fetch up to £500,000 (681,000 euros, $760,000), Sotheby's auction house said on Saturday.

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

Harrison and McCartney were under 21 at the time so their fathers acted as co-signatories and there was a clause in the contract stating that band members 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.

"Without this contract, and the relationship it represents, it seems inconceivable that the Beatles could have achieved all that they did," said Gabriel Heaton, Sotheby's specialist in books and manuscripts.

Epstein, who died from an accidental overdose in 1967, was dubbed the "Fifth Beatle" by McCartney.

The Beatles came out of Liverpool in northwest England to become one of the best-selling and most influential rock bands in history.

Founding member Paul McCartney and drummer Ringo Starr are still alive, while John Lennon was shot dead in 1980 and George Harrison died of cancer in 2001.

The contract will go on sale on September 29.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com