Natural pearls sell for record bid

[Caitlin]

The Baroda pearls sold at Christies:
NEW YORK (Reuters) -

A natural pearl necklace that once belonged to a maharajah sold at an auction at Christie's on Wednesday for nearly $7.1 million (3.5 million pounds), more than double the world record price for any piece of natural pearl jewellery, the auctioneers said.
Christie's said the buyer of the Baroda Pearls, which once belonged to the Maharajah Khande Rao of Baroda, was an Asian private collector, who bid by phone.
Bidding for the piece, which featured pearls as big as gumballs, lasted about 3 minutes in a packed auction room.
The Baroda Pearls is a two-strand necklace of natural pearls that was strung with 68 of the finest and largest pearls from a seven-row necklace.
"The pearls sold at about what we estimated them to make and more than double the last world record price for a natural pearl necklace," Rahul Kadakia, head of jewellery for Christie's America, said after the auction.
The previous record was set by Christie's in Geneva in November 2004 at $3.1 million, for a two-strand natural pearl necklace, it said.
The necklace was auctioned as part of Christie's "Magnificent Jewels" sale. The sale totalled $39.1 million.

 

[Satine De La Courcel]

Wow to be able to thro wmoney arround like that for Pearls, Travel, and Fabric... A gal can dream.. Sigh..

Cheers
Ashby

 

[Valeria101]

NEW YORK (Reuters)

"The Baroda pearls sold at Christies:
NEW YORK (Reuters) -

Quote:

...the piece, which featured pearls as big as gumballs [...]

Funny what the Reuters reporter picked up as most impressive feature of those pearls... (the strands were 10-16mm graduated). If it was that good, it must have been HUGE, right ?

 

[Casey.R]

Is there a photo of it floating around the boards anywhere?

 

[Caitlin]

This page has a picture of them.

In fact this picture has shown up on so many websites that it must have been part of a news release, so here goes:

 

[knotty panda]

Caitlin: As a fellow beader, don't you find it odd that the interior strand appears to be longer than the exterior? I like the way the pear-shaped pearls offset the round pearls giving it a more "random symmetry" feel.

 

[CLICLASP]

Her is one more Christie's picture of the Baroda pearls.