Geneva: A huge diamond unearthed in Botswana commanded an unearthly price of $26.7 million from Christie's auction house on Wednesday amid the spring ritual of well-heeled bidders flocking or phoning in to Geneva's luxury sales. The pear-shaped gem accounted for more than a quarter of the $102 million in sales rung up by Christie's Wednesday night, a night after Sotheby's had $78 million in sales.
"A perfect diamond commands a perfect price," Christie's trumpeted on Twitter of the record sale price for the largest D-color flawless diamond ever offered at auction - a whopping 101.73 carats that took 21 months to polish. Jewellery, watches and other luxury items are sold every spring by the big auction houses at Geneva's elegant lakefront hotels - seemingly a world away from some European countries whose economies are shrinking as their governments enact often tough budget austerity measures to get a handle on their debts.
Sotheby's auction featured a diamond jewellery collection belonging to Italian screen actress Gina Lollobrigida that fetched $4.9 million, some of which she plans to donate to stem cell research. The auction house said eight bidders fought for Lollobrigida's pair of diamond and natural pearl earrings, which finally sold for more than $2.3 million and set a new auction record for such an item.
The 85-year-old actress, who starred opposite Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra and other top actors in the 1950s and 1960s, said she was selling the jewellery partly to fund an international hospital for stem
09:40 AM, May 16, 2013
New Delhi: Market regulator Sebi will hold an auction on Monday for grant of permission to Foreign Institutional Investors for investments worth up to Rs 29,000 crore in government bonds. At the auction to be held on the BSE platform by Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi), FIIs would be able to bid for investment limits of Rs 24,621 crore in the long-term government debt securities and the remaining Rs...
10:01 AM, Apr 22, 2013
London: Angelina Jolie's topless photograph with a white horse will be auctioned in London's Christie auction house next month. The 37-year-old's coloured photograph shows her topless with her head held back and hands caressing a white horse's head as the animal nuzzles her chest, reported Sun Online. The photo is auctioned as a part of The Wild Side of Photography sale. Jolie was photographed by David LaChapelle in 2001 when...
11:55 AM, Apr 17, 2013
New Delhi: Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has asked a committee, which is examining the conditions for allocation of spectrum to different entities, to submit its report soon. The Minister approved a note for expansion of the committee on April 1, 2013 and asked the panel to submit its report in one month from the date of its reconstitution, official sources said. "The issue (spectrum assignment) impacts other ministries such as...
02:15 AM, Apr 13, 2013
New Delhi: Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia on Wednesday said the benchmark price for spectrum auction is "unrealistic" and favoured lowering of reserve price as the previous two attempts to sell airwaves were "unsuccessful". "Spectrum is a national resource. We had two unsuccessful attempts to auction it. It's quite clear that reserve price is too high. "What actually I suggested is that we have a choice, we can...
01:07 AM, Apr 11, 2013
The government has rejected a request by a unit of Vodafone Group Plc's to extend its mobile phone licenses in three key service areas, the operator said, escalating a feud between carriers and the Centre in the world's second-biggest mobile phone market. ...
01:38 PM, Mar 23, 2013
The Department of Telecom has asked Bharti Airtel to stop offering third generation (3G) services in seven circles where the company does not hold spectrum. "Airtel has been asked to stop 3G services and file a compliance report by 3pm on March 18, 2013," sources said. ...
05:10 AM, Mar 16, 2013
The government will get around Rs 3,639 crore from the 2G spectrum auction for CDMA services, which ended on Monday with Russian conglomerate Sistema's Indian unit SSTL being the only bidder. ...
01:40 PM, Mar 11, 2013
The government has received bids worth Rs 3,639 crore from lone bidder Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL) till the second round of the 2G spectrum auction for CDMA services. Sources said bids were received for three blocks in each of eight circles, including Delhi. There was no bid for Mumbai, they added. ...
12:53 PM, Mar 11, 2013
Lone bidder Sistema Shyam Teleservices (SSTL) on Monday bid for eight circles in the 2G spectrum auction for CDMA services. The second round of auction is underway and it is expected that it will end by the third round, which could be the shortest online sale of radiowaves in terms of time consumed. ...
11:00 AM, Mar 11, 2013
Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday expressed confidence that the present uncertainty in the telecom sector will be resolved and spectrum will be auctioned. "For the present there is lot of uncertainty about auction but I am sure that this uncertainty will be resolved and spectrum will be auctioned. If the spectrum is auctioned we should get the money," Chidambaram said. ...
01:24 AM, Mar 01, 2013
Vodafone, which has not applied for taking part in spectrum auction in March, on Tuesday said the reserve price set is too high and the company cannot afford to pay in India where there is uncertainty about airwaves and revenues are low. ...
04:06 AM, Feb 27, 2013
Former telecom minister and a prime accused in the 2G spectrum scam case, A Raja will not be deposing in front of the Joint Parliamentary Committtee (JPC), sources said on Tuesday. ...
12:12 PM, Feb 26, 2013
Sistema emerged as the only operator bidding in an auction of airwaves in India, a sign that the government may have to drop the reserve price of remaining airwaves to attract interest, analysts said. ...
12:21 AM, Feb 26, 2013
The second round of 2G spectrum sale is virtually set to be a flop show as there is no applicant for GSM band of radiowaves while Sistema Shyam is the only firm for CDMA band at close of deadline on Monday for applying to take part in the auction. While no application was received for the GSM band spectrum at the close of deadline, Russian Sistema's Indian joint venture, Sistema...
07:29 PM, Feb 25, 2013
The Centre on Friday informed the Delhi High Court that the renewal of licences for 900 MHz spectrum of three leading mobile service operators would be decided within two weeks. "The government will decide their applications (for renewal of licences) within two weeks as per the law," Additional Solicitor General (ASG) AS Chandhiok told a bench of Justice Rajiv Shakdher. ...
06:15 PM, Feb 22, 2013
The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has extended last date of application for spectrum auction to February 25. In an announcement on Wednesday evening, DoT made amendments to its notice inviting application in which it announced new dates in the schedule for auction. ...
12:46 PM, Feb 21, 2013
World's best players like Mathias Boe and Cartsen Mogensen from Denmark have also sent their confirmation to go under the hammer. ...
06:44 PM, Feb 18, 2013
The violin believed to have belonged to Wallace Hartley - the heroic band master who played, as the iconic ship Titanic sank - is expected to fetch a record price as it goes under the hammer here. The violin, if proven authentic, will have incredibly survived the tragedy in which more than 1500 people lost their lives in the Atlantic ocean on April 15, 1912. ...
05:18 PM, Feb 18, 2013
The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the telecom firms whose licences were cancelled and didn't participate in fresh auction for 2G spectrum will cease to operate forthwith. Sistema and Tata Tele were among those who did not bid in the auction. ...
11:14 AM, Feb 15, 2013
