1788 Cognac sells for $37000 at Paris auction

A bottle of Vieux Cognac dating back to 1788 — the year before the French Revolution — sold at a Paris auction of wine and spirits for $37,000.

Paris’ landmark Tour d’Argent restaurant has cleaned out its cellar, considered one of the best and biggest in the world, putting 18,000 bottles up for auction.

The two-day sale, which ended Tuesday, brought in more than $2.2 million, the Piasa auction house said.
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George Washington letter sells for $3.2M

A letter penned by George Washington praising the new Constitution sold for $3.2 million at an auction, the highest price for a letter by America’s first president.

The four-page letter was written in 1787 to the president’s nephew, Bushrod Washington, and urges adoption of the country’s new constitution.

Last year, a 1864 letter in which President Abraham Lincoln replies to the abolitionist pleas of youth sold for $3.4 million.
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“Vivid pink” diamond sells for record $10.8 million

A ring with a pink diamond the size of a chickpea was auctioned off for a record HK$83.5 million ($10.8 million) in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Vivid Pink,” as it’s called, is a five-carat stone flanked by two white diamonds and set in a ring by elite jeweler Graff. It hails from a private collection.

The so-called fancy-vivid stone broke the per-carat record for a diamond established in May.
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Second Largest Pearl Auctioned Off by Bonhams

Bonhams will auction off what is believed to be the world’s second-largest documented pearl, a five-pound gem found off the coast of the Philippines.

Dubbed the “Palawan Princess,” the gem is next to the 14-pound “Pearl of Allah” in size that was also found off the coastal waters of the Philippines.

The natural non-nacreous pearl was found in saltwater near the Philippines’ Palawan island and “bears an uncanny resemblance to a human brain”.
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Louis Vuitton for French Red Cross

The Louis Vuitton auction, held last night at Sotheby’s on New Bond Street, saw seven special orders sold for a total of £495,000 in aid of the Red Cross.

Louis Vuitton offered six masters of savoir-faire the opportunity to create a unique special order that embodies their expertise in their respective professions.
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For New Year’s, rent a whole hotel

Want to spend New Year’s Eve at The Curtis? This year, it’ll cost you a minimum of $51,000.

But at least you can bring along 600 of your nearest and dearest party people to share in the experience.

The Curtis Hotel, a boutique with a mid-century modern theme and 330 rooms, has started an auction to sell its services for the night of Dec. 31.
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