DUBAI (Zawya Dow Jones)--Jewelry belonging to legendary Egyptian singer, Umm Kulthum, sold for $118,000 at a Christie's auction in Dubai Tuesday night in a sign that the emirate's economic woes haven't crimped the excesses of its wealthiest millionaires.
An Indian multi-strand pearl and turquoise necklace sold for $80,500, well over its estimated price of $15,000 to $25,000. The buyer was a private Middle East collector who wished to remain anonymous.
A cultured pearl and paste festoon brooch, a gift to the singer from the late Shah of Iran, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, sold for $30,000, well above its estimate of between $3,000 and $5,000.
Egyptian singer, songwriter and actress Umm Kulthum, known as the Star of the East, died in 1975.
The lots belonging to the singer were among more than 120 watches and pieces of jewelry offered at the Christie's Jewels and Watches Dubai Sale.
In total, sales reached just over $4 million with 45 out of 46 watches at the auction selling for $1.2 million.
The highlight of the sale was a kite-shaped 5.01 carat diamond pendant, which sold for $194,500 to a Middle Eastern private collector.
The highest selling watch was a platinum manually-wound tourbillon wristwatch by A. Lange & S??hne which sold for $146,500 against a pre-sale estimate of $120,000 to 180,000.
"Buying was selective but nearly three-quarters of the value of the sale was bought by Middle Eastern buyers, an encouraging sign of the developing jewelry and watch market in the region," said David Warren, director of jewelry for Christie's Middle East.
To tap a growing appetite for luxury goods in places such as the United Arab Emirates, Christie's is holding a series of sales featuring its most desirable offerings.
The auction house will hold an International Modern & Contemporary Art Sale in Dubai Wednesday evening, which will showcase 150 lots of Arab, Iranian, Turkish and Western art. The event, which will also offer a selection of works by Saudi Arabian artists for the first time, follows a $40 million sale of Middle Eastern art and jewelry last October.
Christie's was the first international auction house to have a permanent office in the Middle East, opening in Dubai in 2005. Since then, it has held four auctions in the region with more than $118 million of sales.
The number of Middle Eastern buyers at Christie's auctions globally has risen 400% since 2004. Mideast buyers now rival Russian buyers in terms of sales.
الاشتراك في:
تعليقات الرسالة (Atom)
ليست هناك تعليقات:
إرسال تعليق