Royal Jewellery & Fine Arts Auctions and Exhibitions

[Mirabel]

Does anyone plan to go to the Christie's auction of Elizabeth Taylor's jewels?

I would (I am often in NYC) but I don't think they'd let me in the door- I can't even afford the catalog! LOL!

[Baroness of Books]

Originally Posted by Mirabel

Does anyone plan to go to the Christie's auction of Elizabeth Taylor's jewels?

I would (I am often in NYC) but I don't think they'd let me in the door- I can't even afford the catalog! LOL!

I will - vicariously!!

[blauerengel]

If it wasn´t in NY, I would go and look at Elizabeth Taylor´s jewels,she had such an amazing collection!Christie´s webpages offers exhibitions where they show the pieces & let potential customers take a closer look at it. Special Events | Charity Auctions, Exhibitions, Lectures, Wine Tastings | Christie's ->New York Christie's, 20 Rockefeller Plaza (it´s still open till 12 December,you have to buy tickets in advance:Admission: $30 plus sales tax )

[Mirabel]

Originally Posted by blauerengel

If it wasn´t in NY, I would go and look at Elizabeth Taylor´s jewels,she had such an amazing collection!Christie´s webpages offers exhibitions where they show the pieces & let potential customers take a closer look at it. Special Events | Charity Auctions, Exhibitions, Lectures, Wine Tastings | Christie's ->New York Christie's, 20 Rockefeller Plaza (it´s still open till 12 December,you have to buy tickets in advance:Admission: $30 plus sales tax )

I walked past Christie's yesterday, but didn't go in. (It was wall-to-wall in the street with throngs gathering to gaze at the tree, so I couldn't really move closer. Still, the windows have giant pictures of the jewels (also of ET wearing many of them).
La Peregrina was prominent.

I wonder if we'll ever hear who the purchasers are?
I kind of doubt it, since I heard someone comment: It's hard to believe, in times like these, that some people will drop three or four million to buy a ruby!

Well, there will always be the haves and have-nots, and if you've got the $$$, why not?
But if that is the feeling, I can understand if the buyers decide to keep a low profile.

[blauerengel]

I doubt we´ll know who finally gets the pieces,most buyers want to remain unknown.
Just because the situation of the economy is though doesn´t mean that rich ppl don´t buy.On the contrary,most auction houses still make good profits and sell many expensive items.The ultra-rich people will always have money,so I expect all of Elizabeth´s jewels to be sold at a high price.
The peregrina is one of my favourite jewels from ET´s collection,I would probably never wear it but if I had too much money I would think about purchasing it as an investment;-)

[Mirabel]

I think you are right, the jewels will sell far above the estimated prices, just as the Duchess of Windsor's did.

Still, I hope we learn who buys La Peregrina, at least.

[Baroness of Books]

Originally Posted by Mirabel

I wonder if we'll ever hear who the purchasers are?
I kind of doubt it, since I heard someone comment: It's hard to believe, in times like these, that some people will drop three or four million to buy a ruby!

Well, there will always be the haves and have-nots, and if you've got the $$$, why not?
But if that is the feeling, I can understand if the buyers decide to keep a low profile.

Did you hear about the anonymous bidder at a Texas auction who paid over $200,000 for a Hermes Birkin handbag? I can well imagine why they'd remain incognito for dropping that amount of money on a handbag, but they must figure if they have the money then they'll spend it on what they will. I'm sure the same principle will apply to the Taylor jewel auction.

But I'd love to know who gets La Peregrina!

[Mirabel]

Originally Posted by Baroness of Books

But I'd love to know who gets La Peregrina!

I think we will- eventually. That jewel is so famous that we'll probably hear about the buyer (at least in general terms). Tuesday's the day!

[Lmarch]

Vanity Fair is showing the POW Brooch as "sold." Has anything been reported in the UK about this? Wonder if the royal family bought it prior to the auction, which isn't until Dec 13 (tomorrow). Photos: Highlights from Elizabeth Taylor See

[Mirabel]

La Peregrina realized $11, 842, 500.

[Baroness of Books]

Oh, my, my!! Has a pearl ever brought that amount of money? Obviously, it's due to its royal connections and ownership by Liz Taylor. I guess we won't know who owns it and the POW brooch until they're worn.

[Lmarch]

Not as much realized for the Elizabeth Taylor diamond as for La Peregrina!

1.3 million US realized for POW Brooch

[Warren]

Newsday, 14 Dec 2011: Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry sells for $115 million

Elizabeth Taylor's jewellery sells for $115 million

Some items:
• La Peregrina: US$11,842,500 (estimate US$2m-$3m)
• 33.19 carat diamond ring: US$8,818,500 (estimate US$2.5m-$3.5m) [see thumbnail below]
• Diamond bracelet (gift from Michael Jackson): US$194,500 (estimate US$30,000-$50,000)

Raw Video: Stunning Bids at Taylor Auction - YouTube

v the 33.19 carat diamond ring
(image cropped from a larger picture)

[Duchessmary]

I'm DYING to know who owns the POW brooch.

[Tarlita]

At 1.30pm my time the news came in that La Peregrina pearl sold for just over $11 million. And I thought Wow! By about 7 pm Rueters said the sale reached $116 million. I thought WOW and WOW. Cashed up Russians and Arabs and the new rich Chinese must have battled it out. And others of course. I had hoped that Prince Charles or the Queen would try and buy back the POW feathers brooch, but with that kind of fierce bidding - $1,314,500 it may have been too much for them.
Like you I would love to know who got the pearl and the brooch!

I have part of the Who magazine article dated 24 jan 1994, an interview of Elizabeth Taylor when she bid on the Duchess of Windsors jewels on 2 nd April 1987.
"Bidding at auction was á wild experience - very heady and intoxicating and dangerous", she says, remembering the $910,000 she spent. "Very Dangerous". The previous page is missing and the last sentence from that page says - the Wales Plume brooch.
When the auction began in Geneva, Taylor was linked to the auction by phone from her home in California. [She and the children were out by the pool.] "When I won the bidding, I went around the pool just yelling, "Yes! Yes! It was a thrill. What I found out later was that I was bidding against the Sultan of Brunei."
.

[Patra]

I am impressed, but not shocked or surprised at the realized Christie's auction prices of Elizabeth Taylor's Jewelry. She had an amazing collection of important global jewelry pieces.I too have tried to find out who was the successful bidder of the Mike Todd Tiara, and the Prince or Wales Brooch to no avail!

[Mirabel]

Originally Posted by Lmarch

Not as much realized for the Elizabeth Taylor diamond as for La Peregrina!

1.3 million US realized for POW Brooch

La Peregrina has a history; the diamond is just a big rock. Not that Taylor's jewels don't carry a certain cachet, but they do not compare with La Peregrina. Although- if I owned it, I'd dismantle that necklace and just put the pearl in a simple setting to show it off; I don't like that ornate necklace for it.

[Baroness of Books]

I so agree with you about La Peregrina's ornate setting; the beauty of that pearl is overwhelmed (hard though that may be) and it should be displayed more simply. I even think it should be set as a dangling brooch, much as it originally was.

[RubyPrincess168]

Now for some depressing auction news, some of ET's jewels will grace...........Kim Kardashian! Elizabeth Taylor auction: Kim Kardashian snaps up three bracelets that belonged to the screen goddess - hellomagazine.com
This makes me ill!

I am hopefully that La Peregrina has been purchased by the Spanish Royal Family, and that there won't be too much squawking about the economy, etc. I think of it as a sort-of national treasure and it should be returned.

[Duchessmary]

Say it isn't so! NOOOOOO