Lost Art: Rare Buddhist relic fetches top dollar at auction

An 11th-century Nepalese Buddhist figure that was initially purchased by a lucky collector for just US$1,000, sold at the recent Bonhams Images of Devotion auction for a staggering HK$2.75 million – 350 times its initial price. But surprisingly, this wasn’t to be the event’s star performer. That particular accolade went to A Schist Figure of Buddha, a beautiful third-century relic crafted from schist, a coarse-grained, layered metamorphic rock.

The almost pristinely preserved statue, which stands 122cm tall, was crafted in the ancient region of Gandhāra, now known as Peshawar, a part of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Thanks to its unique location at the crossroads between East and West, Gandhāran artisans were renowned for creating Asian religious icons in an unusual Greco-Roman style.

It is precisely this unique influence that informs A Schist Figure of Buddha and sets it apart from the more typical statues of Buddha found across Asia. Add to this the fact that it also stands as a testament to the early spread of Buddhist art, and its final hammer price – a whopping HK$9.17 million – seems more than justified.

Pink Pride: Fancy pink diamond shines bright at Sotheby’s auction

There’s no denying that there’s something both alluringly mystical and enticingly feminine about coloured diamonds, with their crystalline structure and vibrant sparkle ensuring that any passing gaze is snared by their presence. There is one special type of these precious gemstones, though, that has fired the imagination of haute joaillerie enthusiasts the world over recently – the rarified pink diamond.

Any doubters need look no further than the recent Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Sale held by auction house Sotheby’s last month, where an exquisite 10.64-carat pink diamond ring was the star of the show, fetching nearly US$19.9 million and outshining far larger stones – an Anna Hu necklace set with a 100-carat yellow diamond and an 80.88-carat emerald-cut white diamond, to name but two.

To experts, the final hammer price came as no surprise. After all, not only is it Internally Flawless, it also boasts a uniquely pinkish-purple colouring. What’s more, given that just four percent of all diamonds are of the pink variety, and that just one percent of those rarities are certified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) as being over 10 carats, its superior performance was pretty much assured from the start.

Double Act: Two Records in One Day for Nara Yoshitomo

To say that Nara Yoshitomo had a triumphant start to October would be putting things mildly. After all, the acclaimed Japanese artist smashed all expectations when his works broke records back to back during Hong Kong’s auction week.

The first work to set a new record was Not Everything but/ Green House, a 3D art installation sold by Poly Auction Hong Kong. Standing proudly at 6m high, the large-scale Green House fetched a final price of HK$40.12 million, becoming Nara’s most expensive artwork ever sold.

But that record lasted for mere hours only, with his Knife Behind Back painting selling at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale for a staggering HK$195.7 million in the same afternoon. Measuring a gargantuan 234cm x 208cm, the large artwork was created in 2000, the year Nara returned to his homeland after living in Germany for 12 years. Not only did this sale beat his Poly Auction performance nearly five-fold, it simultaneously conferred on Nara the accolade of being the most expensive Japanese artist in the world. Not a bad day’s work, indeed.

Vintage Treasures: Exploring The Time Machine @ Museum Concept

Imagine losing yourself in the wonders of bygone eras, surrounded by the allure of beautiful antique pieces that evoke a heady sense of nostalgia. That is exactly what The Time Machine at Museum Concept, the interior decorations showroom that specialises in antiques and vintage furniture pieces, offers to discerning collectors and high-end home owners.

For the uninitiated, Museum Concept was established 20 years ago by Christian Pilard, a self-professed lover of vintage collectibles. Boasting a capacious 2,000sq.ft showroom – replete with a 1,400sq.ft terrace – in Chai Wan, this unique venue offers interior designers, architects and collectors alike the chance to find beautiful and often one-of-a-kind retro pieces ranging from early 20th-century industrial furniture and decorations to prehistoric fossils and much more besides.

Beyond just individual creations though, Museum Concept also offers a unique Room of Dreams experience. Here, the focus is not just on one-off designs, but on combining individual pieces to present a cohesive theme, be it an underwater paradise, a prehistoric jungle or the royal palace fit for any princess-to-be.

So whether you’ve got your heart set on accentuating your abode with a period-accurate wine rack or you dream of transforming your home into an homage to times gone by, a perusal of the stunning objets at Museum Concept is well worth a visit.

The Time Machine @ Museum Concept
Address: 302-310 Honour Industrial Centre, 6 Sun Yip St, Chai Wan
Tel: (852) 2513 5930
Email: concept@vol.net

Royal Shine: Mughal treasure revealed at Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence auction

As the second-most-valuable private jewellery collection ever to go under the gavel, Christie’s Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence auction, held earlier this summer in New York, fetched a staggering US$109 million in total. While the gem-studded event certainly featured some truly remarkable haute joaillerie designs, one particular item deserves special mention – The Mirror of Paradise diamond ring.

While its third appearance on the auction block saw it fail to meet its pre-sale estimate of US$7-10 million, it still fetched a wholly respectable sum of US$6.52 million, thanks in no small part to the gargantuan gem that fronts this Mughal-era platinum creation.

Weighing in at 52.58 carats, the baguette-cut, D-colour, Internally Flawless, Type IIa white diamond gracing its fascia was mined in southern India’s renowned Golconda region. Golconda mines bear the unique distinction of producing diamonds without any nitrogen, a characteristic that imbues its precious stones with superb luminosity and impeccable purity. So sought-after are these gemstones that its several of its other products have become world-famous in their own right, including the Koh-i-Noor, which now languishes in the British crown jewels collection, and the Hope Diamond, now on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.

Moon Watch: Stellar price for George Daniels Apollo 11 tribute timepiece

George Daniels (1926-2011), one of the foremost pocket watch creators of his era, was so taken by the historic nature of the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing that it inspired him to fashion his own inimitable tribute to the men and the mission – the 1982 Space Traveller. Designed to meet every need of even the most demanding deep-space explorer, its intricate mechanism simultaneously indicates both mean-solar time and sidereal time.

As this cosmically-inspired chronogram was sold almost as soon as it was completed (and was only to be seen again in public more than 30 years later), Daniels so regretted the impetuosity of the transaction that he immediately set about creating the Space Traveller II, which remained his personal watch the rest of his life.

One of just 23 pocket watches to have been handcrafted by Daniels, the Space Traveller’s unique provenance recently saw sell it for US$4.56 million, making it the most expensive English watch ever sold at auction, as well as the highest price commanded by a single watch this year to date.

Gems of the Ganges revealed at Christie’s Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence auction

Boasting a staggering array of bejewelled mementos once owned by members of India’s ruling classes, the Christie’s Maharajas and Mughal Magnificence auction was always going to be something truly special.

A a 1912 Belle-Époque Diamond Devant-de-Corsage Cartier Brooch

Hosted at the auctioneer’s New York office, the marathon 12-hour sale raked in a total of US$109 million, making it the second-most valuable private collection ever to go under the gavel – outdone only by the 2011 sale of the gems that once belonged to Elizabeth Taylor, that most beguiling of screen goddesses.

The lead item this time round was a 1912 Belle-Époque Diamond Devant-de-Corsage Cartier Brooch. Eventually sold for US$10.6 million, the horseshoe-shaped, diamond-draped creation featured two wholly unique gemstones – a brilliant-cut, D-colour, 34.08-carat diamond and an oval-shaped 23.55-carat diamond.

Among the other highlights of the sale were a dazzling Antique Imperial Spinel, Pearl and Emerald Necklace, which went for an eminently respectable US$3 million, and a gem-studded Jigha turban ornament and the The Taj Mahal Emerald brooch – both of which attracted winning bids of US$1.815 million.

Stratospheric Prices: High Price for Zhang Daqian Mountain Masterpiece

Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) is rightly lauded as both one of the most adept Chinese artists of the 20th century and one of its most prolific, a reputation that ensures his splashed ink landscapes are sought out by art aficionados the world over. So, when an extant example of his work – Manchurian Mountains – took centre stage at the recent Sotheby’s Fine Chinese Paintings auction in Hong Kong, the bidding war that ensued was no surprise.

Completed in 1969, this immense 2m x 1m landscape was originally gifted by Zhang to the daughter and son-in-law of Zhang Xueliang, an official in China’s Republican Army and a personal friend of the artist’s. Depicting the stunning Yiwulü Mountains in Northern China’s Liaoning province, its evergreen peaks were captured in beguiling mineral colours as a symbol of coming prosperity, with the snow-capped summits also signalling that auspicious times lay ahead.

Given its unsullied provenance and the fact that it was the first time this particular piece had ever come to auction, it is perhaps understandable that it inspired a truly staggering winning bid of HK$162 million – more than double its pre-sale estimate.

Pink Performance: Pink Floyd guitar sale fetches stunning sums

David Gilmour, the legendary lead guitarist of Pink Floyd, that most cosmically-inclined of British rock bands, has played stunning solos on some of the world’s bestselling albums – most notably The Wall and The Dark Side of the Moon.

Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour with his 1969 Black Strat — Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour with his Black Strat, which sold for US$3.975 million

When news broke out, then, that he intended to auction off his personal guitar collection, it was no surprise that music memorabilia aficionados the world over went into something of a meltdown. Nor was it a huge shock that the collection raised the undeniably grand figure of US$21 million when Christie’s New York brought the gavel down on the final lot, the proceeds of which have been earmarked for Gilmour’s charitable foundation.

By far the star performer of the day was a 1969 Black Fender Stratocaster – also known as the Black Strat – which went for a stunning US$3.975 million, exceeding its pre-sale estimate of US$150,000 by some 2,650 percent. It has to be said, though, that the initial valuation was somewhat conservative, seeing as this was the very instrument that gave the world some of the most memorable Pink Floyd tracks, including Money, Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Comfortably Numb.

Pink Rock: Bubble Gum Pink diamond ring took top billing at Christie’s

While the words ‘bubble gum pink’ may not quite segue into the mystique and rarity that characterise haute joaillerie, one particularly stunning rosy-esque diamond ring that more than matched this description took top billing at the recent Christie’s Magnificent Jewels auction in Hong Kong, ultimately selling for an eminently wallet-lightening US$7.52 million.

Precisely crafted by London-based jeweller Moussaieff, the centrepiece of Bubble Gum Pink’s white gold ring is a 3.43-carat, cushion-cut, internally flawless fancy vivid purplish pink diamond. Surrounding this iridescent gemstone are four D-colour, internally flawless, marquise-cut diamonds and several pear-shaped pink diamonds.

Highlighting the unique nature of this salmonesque showstopper, Francois Curiel, Chairman of Christie’s Europe, said: “It’s probably the strongest pink I have seen in my 50 years as a jewellery specialist. What is particularly rare about it is that it is also internally flawless, meaning it has no imperfections whatsoever.”