Taylor auction final update

The Elizabeth Taylor jewelry auction set several significant records for this type of sales event.  Noteworthy milestones were the 24 items that sold for over $1 million, with six pieces going for more than $5 million each.

A major highlights of the sale included a 15 minute rapid bidding battle for the Burton wedding bands. These bands were given to Ms. Taylor by Richard Burton on their two marriages, first in 1964 and again in1975.  Pre-auction estimates were that the bands would bring fetch $6,000–8,000. The final price was $1,022,500. Not too shabby!!!!

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Liz Taylor's Jewelry Auction

According to a just published Rapaport News article, early sales in Christie’s Auction Gallery sale of Elizabeth Taylor’s collection of jewels far exceeded their pre auction estimates.  The first part of the auction has achieved record prices at Christie’s, and they  reported that the first portion of the four-day sale generated $115.9 million in sales.  This makes it the most valuable jewelry auction in history. All of the 80 lots offered yesterday were sold. 

So far, the top lot sold was ''La Peregrina'' (pictured), a natural pearl, diamond, ruby and cultured pearl necklace by Cartier which went for $11.8 million, a price well above the high presale estimate of $3 million.  This piece set a record for a pearl jewel sold at auction.

Marc Porter, the chairman of Christie’s America’s, stated that the auction drew in bids from all over the world. In advance of the event Christie’s exhibited the collection in Hong Kong, Moscow, London, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Dubai, Geneva and Paris.

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Pandora loosing its luster?

Reprinted quote from Jewelry net Asia.  Looks as if Pandora may be falling off in popularity....

This week the European jewellery press has been dominated by the news that Danish jewellery powerhouse Pandora has had to dramatically slash its profit forecast for the year following poor sales, and also announced that it is to part ways with its CEO, Mikkel Vendelin Olesen.

The company issued a profit warning on Tuesday which caused its shares to plummet by 65%. Its board of directors decided to update its expectations for the financial year 2011 following poor trading results for the second quarter of 2011, which was marked by a sharp revenue deterioration and worsening trading conditions causing sales to slump by 30%.
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Court Rules on eBay -v- Tiffany Auction Postings

On April 2nd a federal appeals court agreed with a lower court's decision  in favor of eBay, which was being sued by Tiffany & Company.  The court found that eBay is not responsible for trademark violations if auction sellers use eBay to list and sell fake Tiffany items.

But the ruling asked the U.S. District Court in Manhattan to reconsider Tiffany's allegations that eBay violated false advertising laws by allowing merchandise to be listed as genuine Tiffany products, if eBay was not sure if the items were genuine.

The net result of this court decision is that eBay would not need to stop listing goods as Tiffany products, even if it knows that some of the items are counterfeit. the ruling stated "A disclaimer might suffice." The law prohibits eBay from implying that all of the goods posted on its Web site are genuine when many items are not.


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Ice Road Trucker Mine News

The Diavic diamond mine, make famous by the TV show ICE ROAD TRUCKER, has just announced the start of an underground mine production.  The transition to underground mining has long been part of their plan, the company said.  The Diavik diamond mine is located in Canada’s very remote Northwest Territories

Kim Truter, president and chief operating officer of the mine, indicated that Diavic is delighted to celebrate their first underground diamond mine, and that they are very proud of the team who helped make this happen in some of the harshest operating conditions in the world.

As the open pit mines are depleted, underground operations for the Diavik mine will steadily increase, and by 2012 they expect to be a 100 percent underground mine. The underground operation will extend the life of the Diavik mine past 2020.


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Mexico's Cave of Crystals

Mexico's Cave of Crystals stunned geologists when it was first discovered in 2000. The underground chamber contains some of the largest natural crystals ever found.  Britain's Professor Iain Stewart got a rare glimpse of the subterranean spectacle while filming for the new BBC series How the Earth Made Us.  Check out the BBC video clip on this link.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8466493.stm

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Watch Collector News Item

Interesting news for all you watch collectors.  Bulova Watch Company has just introduced the Bulova Precisionist, a wrist watch accurate to 10 seconds per year, as compared to most other quartz watches, which are accurate to 15 seconds per month. To achieve this accuracy Bulova has developed a special quartz crystal vibration system which oscillates at eight times the frequency of a traditional quartz watch.

The 50th anniversary of the Bulova Accutron watch is being celebrating with the offering of a Precisionist movement watch, built as a replica of the Accutron Spaceview 214.  Only 1,000 of this new watch will be produced, and distribution has not yet been determined.  It is expected that collectors will quickly buy up this limited production run.

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Diamond Eating Dog

Rockville, Md    Soli, a golden retriever pet of retail jeweler store owners, recently gobbled up a 3-carat-plus gem after a diamond dealer fumbled the stone onto the floor of Robert Bernard Jewelers in Rockville, Md.  Store co-owners Robert Rosin and George Kaufmann immediately called a vet, who told them they had no choice but to wait for Mother Nature to take her course.  After several days of poop-scooping, the Diamond was recovered and returned to the dealer. Glad it wasn't one of our diamonds.

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Cullinan Heritage Diamond sells for $35.3 Million

As reported in National Jeweler's online  Magaine.  Petra Diamonds Ltd. announced the sale of a 507-carat rough diamond unearthed at its Cullinan mine.  The stone sold for $35.3 million, the highest sale price on record ever achieved for a rough diamond.

Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Company Ltd. bought the hefty piece of rough, dubbed the "Cullinan Heritage," at a tender in South Africa. At 507.5 carats, the Cullinan Heritage is the 19th largest piece of rough unearthed in history, and it is one of many important diamonds to come out of the South African Cullinan mine, which was once owned by De Beers.

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Diamond Prices Going Up

Retail diamond prices are on the way up due to recent wholesale price increases. If you are going to be in the market for a new diamond, this may be a good opportunity to purchase for new priced stone hit the retail counter.

The Rappaport TradeWire reports that the De Beers sales division (DTC) raised wholesales rough diamond prices by 7 percent to 9 percent at this week’s February auction.  De Beers explained in a letter to authorized sightholders that they now anticipate a period of stability in respect of  prices, subject, of course, to any further major changes in market conditions.

The DTC has been able to adjust its prices recently due to the more positive economic and supply-demand developments that have been observed in the market of late, Borhanjoo added. Reports from BHP Billiton customers indicated that prices rose by an average of 3 percent at the company’s rough tender this past week.

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Everlon Design Jewelry

National Jeweler Magazine reports in its 1/05/2010 online issue, that U.S. jewelry manufacturer Orogem Corp. has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit.  The suit is against De Beers, and a dozen retailers and manufacturers who sell or manufacture the Everlon design.  Orogem holds copyright registrations for what it calls the "Larkhead" pendant, a necklace featuring a knot  design.  Orogem claims to have sold "thousands of the Larkhead pendants" all over the United States since 1999, when it registered a copyright for the design.

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Holiday Sales

Rapaport TradeWire®
Friday, January 01, 2010



News: Reports show U.S. holiday jewelry sales +5.6% while sales of other luxury goods flat. U.S. consumer confidence improves in December on better short-term business outlook. Trading centers quiet but cutters hopeful retailers will restock with strong orders early in New Year. 

Probably a good time to start thinking about new diamond purchases as prices are likely headed up after the increased holiday sales activity.

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Closing hours Xmas Eve

We will be closing shop about 1:30 PM on Christmas Eve. Thanks one and all for your support over this past year. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Kawanza, and if we left out anyone in these season's greetings, best wishes to you too.

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Holiday Sales

Most retail jewelers across the USA are reporting Holiday sales figures somewhat below preseason estimates. However, many retailers may have been overly optimistic in their sales expectations due to a fairly strong fall sales season.

Several retailers have basically stated that while the year may not have finished on a really strong note, at least the Holiday season was not the complete bust some had feared. Big ticket items seemed to have been the bright spot for many jewelers. Discount type stores offering impulse priced items seem to have had sales levels below expectations.

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Happy Holidays

Everyone here in our office wishes all of you the very best for the holiday season and prosperous times for the coming new year.

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Seasonal Diamond sales

National Jeweler Magazine report. Rahul Kadakia, head of jewelry at Christie's New York, said in a recent release that "The diamond market continues to show remarkable strength despite the volatility of the financial world. Just two weeks after a very strong sale of jewels at Christie's Hong Kong--where a 5-carat pink diamond went for $10.8 million--the exceptional Evening Star Golconda diamond of 39 carats sold at Christie's New York for $5.4 million. It was a fitting grand finale to a year that saw over $100 million in jewels change hands under our gavels in the U.S."