PEARL jewellery worth millions of dollars from across centuries and covering a spectrum of styles, including those from royal collections, are up for sale in Bahrain.
A broche studded with a coloured pearl which King Henry IV purchased for $25 million from the Dodge brothers who manufactured the latter’s cars, and a diamond-studded pearl necklace from the collection of Queen of Sweden and Norway Josephine de Beauharnais are among the elegant lot on display.
The event titled Magnificent Pearls is organised by Christie’s, the British auction house and world leaders for jewellery for over two decades, along with Bahrain’s Institute for Pearls and Gemstones (Danat).
The biggest pearl exhibition to be ever organised in the country opened on Thursday at the Four Seasons Hotel Bahrain Bay, under the patronage of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Minister Zayed Alzayani, and runs until tomorrow.
According to Christie’s senior international jewellery director and jewellery head for the Middle East David Warren, a selection of more than 50 exceptional pearls and other jewellery ranging from $50,000 to $12m are up for sale at the private exhibition.
“We are proud to be here associating with Danat, one of the leading laboratories for pearl testing in the world, which last year alone, I learn, tested 2.5m natural pearls,” Mr Warren told the GDN.
“Bahrain was a centre of pearling with over 4,000 years of history and it is an interestingly incredible place for pearl lovers and this is what brings us here on this private sale exhibition.
“We have over 50 natural pearls, antique pieces, tiaras as well as modern contemporary jewellery – a wide range covering several centuries of styles.
“This is one of the biggest collections of natural pearls put together – it is hard to quantify this as pearls of this kind of quality coming together don’t happen very often.”
A dramatic Indian earring with large chandelier tassles, a seven-row necklace with 692 natural pearls weighing 1,200ct, pearl ear drops resembling pears, rings studded with pearls and emeralds, diamond and pearl decked duck, penguin and an ostrich too added glamour to the display.
“We have been extremely selective and we have the best of the best as that is what Bahrain deserves,” he said.
“These necklaces ranging from one to seven strands of pearls, each growing more expensive with the rows, and some of this must have taken generations to put them together.
“It is not easy to find one fine natural pearl – it is a huge effort and to start matching them is so difficult,” he added, noting that “nothing” could be found in hundreds of molluscs during pearl diving.
“Some may be small, blemished or mis-shapened – so these are the perfect ones which are the rarest gem stones known to man.”
Mr Warren who was positive about the market despite the global financial restrains, said Christie’s was bold enough to test “new markets, introduce new categories, find new buyers and clients”.
“We operate at a very rarefied area in the market and are lucky to be the biggest art company in the world with a turnover of $7 billion a year,” he said.
“We have been market leaders in jewellery for the last 25 years.
“This strong position allows us to deal with some of the wealthiest collectors in the world, so we still maintain high turnover interest.
“The pieces we are offering are rare, with some of them being “once in a lifetime opportunity”.
“Certainly we are able to provide unique pieces and we have had a good last year and are excited about the prospects for this year.
“Around the world economies are in a state of flux and there is a bit of anxiety whether to do anything or not.
“In my 40 years with Christie’s I have seen that a strong company can ride through all these and we test new markets, introduce new categories, find new buyers and clients.”
The exhibition is open from 11am to 10pm and closes by lunch time tomorrow.
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