Cue the “can she stop wearing famous icon’s artifacts?” commentary. It was just announced that Kim won Princess Di’s prized, diamond-encrusted, amethyst Attallah cross pendant. Ever the deal-maker, Kardashian nabbed it in the final 5-minutes of the Royal & Noble Sotheby’s auction at the bargain price of only $197,453. That’s double the pre-auction estimated price.
What could go wrong?
Most famously, Princess Diana wore the cross pendant paired with a complementary Victorian-style Catherine Walker gown to Birthright’s London charity gala in 1987. The pendant comes from the Naim Attallah CBE, of Asprey & Garrard, who had a close relationship with Diana. Previously, it had been loaned only to the Princess of Wales, and has never been worn by anyone else.
Again, yet another memento – and piece of history – from dead female celebrities falls into Kim Kardashian’s greedy clutches. It comes just mere months after Kim provocatively wore Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” dress to the Met Gala. This decision sparked outrage amongst the general public, who declared that no one should wear the dress but Marilyn herself.
Sotheby’s
While Kim’s acquisition of Princess Di’s cross will certainly light a fire under some, both Sotheby’s and Kim – who has a collection of jewels previously owned by women who inspire her – are simply thrilled. Sotheby’s is overjoyed that the legacy of the necklace can continue.
I, for one, am super thrilled to devour the comments about the first time Kim wears that thing in public. I’m certain we’ll see an explanation on Season 4 of The Kardashians.
Photos: Presley Ann/Getty Images, Tim Graham/Getty Images.
Kim Kardashian continues to grow her collection of pieces from bygone icons with one more item: the Attallah Cross, an amethyst pendant worn by Princess Diana.
The necklace was sold in a Sotheby’s auction to Kardashian for $197,453 (£163,800)— more than double its pre-auction estimate — on Jan. 18, the company announced.
You might recognize the amethyst cross from an image of Princess Diana taken at a charity gala supporting Birthright, a nonprofit focused on protecting human rights during pregnancy and childbirth, in October 1987. The necklace was created in the 1920s by the heritage luxury jeweler Garrard, likely as a special private commission, per Sotheby’s. Garrard — which crafted her 1981 engagement ring — loaned it to Princess Diana. It was bought by Naim Attallah CBE, former group chief executive of Asprey & Garrard, in the 1980s, who allowed the royal to wear it to various events. It’s believed that the necklace has only ever been worn by Princess Diana, and that it hasn’t been seen in public until now.
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“This is a bold piece of jewelry by its size, color and style which cannot fail to make a vibrant statement, whether it be of faith or fashion – or indeed both,” Sotheby’s London Head of Jewelry Kristian Spofforth said, in a press release. “We are delighted that this piece has found a new lease of life within the hands of another globally famous name.”
Photo: Courtesy of Sotheby’s
Set with square-cut amethysts and circular cut diamonds, the pendant weighs about 5.25 carats. Kardashian beat out three other bidders for it during Sotheby’s Royal and Noble sale.
Paintings and sculptures from the collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen were auctioned off for a historic $1.5 billion Wednesday, Christie’s auction house said, with records set for works by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat and Klimt.
Calling it “the biggest sale in auction history,” Christie’s said the collection featured diverse artwork spanning five centuries. The auction house said 60 artworks pulled in a total of $1,506,386,000, “establishing the Allen collection as the most valuable private collection in history.”
This undated photo provided by Christie’s, shows “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire” by Paul Cezanne, an oil on canvas from the Paul G. Allen Collection.
/ AP
Five paintings entered the exclusive club of works of art sold for more than $100 million at auction, the New York auction house said, in a sign that the art market continues to grow despite economic uncertainties related to the war in Ukraine and inflation.
“Never before have more than two paintings exceeded $100 million in a single sale, but tonight, we saw five,” said Max Carter, Christie’s vice chairman of 20th and 21st century art. ‘Four were masterpieces from the fathers of modernism — Cezanne, Seurat, Van Gogh and Gauguin.’ “
The most expensive piece of the evening, Georges Seurat’s 1888 work “Les Poseuses, Ensemble (small version),” a renowned work of pointillism, fetched $149.24 million, including fees, Christie’s said.
The auction house had announced that all the proceeds would be donated to charity, as Allen had requested.
Wednesday’s auction sold 60 of 150 lots, with the rest to be sold on Thursday.
The value of the collection has already surpassed the record for the Macklowe collection, named after a wealthy New York couple, which fetched $922 million at competitor Sotheby’s earlier this spring.
Allen made his fortune with the establishment of the PC operating system with his better-known Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in 1975.
He had a net worth of $20.3 billion at the time of his death, according to Forbes.
Allen left Microsoft in 1983, due to health problems and a deteriorating relationship with Gates, who remained in charge of the company until 2000.
He founded a pop culture museum in his hometown of Seattle and owned several sports franchises, including the Seattle Seahawks.
Despite their strained friendship, Allen signed Gates’s “Giving Pledge” campaign and all proceeds from the auction are to be donated to charitable causes.
The sale on Wednesday totaled about $1.5 billion, according to an AFP calculation, and included French painter Paul Cezanne’s “La Montagne Sainte-Victoire” — which fetched $137.8 million, almost double the artist’s auction record.
A work by Vincent Van Gogh, “Orchard with Cypresses,” broke the Dutch artist’s previous record, bringing in $117.2 million.
A painting from Paul Gauguin’s Tahitian period, “Maternity II,” brought $105.7 million.
Austrian painter Gustav Klimt’s “Birch Forest” brought in $104.6 million.
The billion mark was surpassed on lot number 32, an Alberto Giacometti sculpture, “Woman of Venice III,” which sold for $25 million.
The auction was a testament to the quality of Allen’s collection, which included a diverse range of works from the German-American painter-sculptor Max Ernst, whose sculpture “The King Playing with the Queen” sold for $24.3 million, to the American Jasper Johns, one of the few living artists featured in the collection, whose lithograph “Small False Start” sold for $55.35 million.
This undated photo provided by Christie’s, shows “Small False Start,” 1960, by Jasper Johns, encaustic, acrylic and paper collage on fiberboard, from the Paul G. Allen Collection.
An official first printing of the U.S. Constitution is set to go up for auction next month, New York-based auction house Sotheby’s announced Tuesday. The historic document will be put up for auction during a dedicated live sale on Dec. 13.
It is one of only two such copies that are in private hands, and one of only 13 total copies known to exist, Sotheby’s said. The other 11 are in public government collections.
It’s the first time in more than 125 years that this particular manuscript has gone up for auction, according to Sotheby’s, which estimates it will sell for anywhere between $20 and $30 million.
It will hit the auction block just over one year after Sotheby’s auctioned off the only other known privately owned first-edition copy, known as the Goldman Constitution. It went for a staggering $43.2 million last November, a record for any book, manuscript or printed text sold at auction, Sotheby’s said.
Richard Austin, Sotheby’s global head of books and manuscripts, said in a statement that last year’s record sale was proof of the “enduring importance and influence” of the historical document, adding that there are high hopes for the sale of the remaining copy.
“A year later after the record-breaking sale, we hope the remarkable opportunity to acquire one of two privately owned copies of the Constitution will inspire a similar response that galvanized the public last year,” Austin said.
