Carl Asplund’s watch has reached the Henry Aldridge and Son auctioneers in Devizes, Wiltshire, England and is anticipated to fetch £15,000-£20,000 ($30,000-$39,000).

The watch was recovered from the body of Carl Asplund who sinked on the Titanic and is part of the Lillian Asplund compilation of Titanic associated objects that will be auctioned on 19 April.

Asplund was just 5 in April 1912, when the Titanic hit an iceberg and submerged on its maiden cruise from England to New York. Amongst the 1500 others who died included her father and three siblings.

Last October, Sotheby’s set a world auction record when it sold a 6.04-carat fancy vivid blue diamond for $7,981,835 at its Hong Kong sale.
It expects to create the same bidding frenzy when a 72.22 D-color, pear-shaped diamond hits the auction block at its Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Sale on April 10 in Hong Kong. Bidding will start at $10 million for the exceptional-quality stone that is described as the size of large strawberry and is the largest pear-shaped D-color flawless diamond to date to appear at auction in Asia.
The sale also presents a rare 3.47-carat fancy vivid blue heart-shape diamond, with an estimated value of $3 million to $3.8 million, and the world’s largest graded intense purple diamond, a 3.02-carat radiant-cut stone, with an estimated value of $1.5 million to $1.8 million. When it comes to the price of rarified diamonds, clearly the sky is the limit.

Christie’s will be offering a spectacular collection of period jewels from the 17th century to date in its upcoming sale in New York on April 15. The collection, called The Eye of a Connoisseur, includes 115 lots and is expected to realize record prices.

An outstanding item is one of the most important pink diamonds ever to be offered for sale at an auction. The diamond is a 14.23 carat fancy intense pink diamond with an estimated price of $10-15 million.

Commenting on the unique collection, Francois Curiel, Christie’s Chairman of Jewelry, said, “When I reflect upon all that I have seen during my 40-year Christie’s career, both at auction and privately, this collection strikes me as unparalleled to virtually any other in the world for its provenance, breadth, size and rarity.”

He added: “Never before have I seen assembled together such a great number of quintessential jewels from the 17th and 18th centuries, all the way to the Art Nouveau and Art Deco periods, and into the 21st century. This unique ensemble represents a walk through some of history’s most prominent figures and their jewels.”

Rare collection of work by Charles Dickens will reach the Christie’s auction block in New York on 2 April and is expected to fetch $2 million.

This includes an alliance copy of “Oliver Twist,” which is emblazoned by Dickens to a fellow author and is anticipated to generate $200,000-$300,000.

Eyebrows are raised for high price tag attached to the books and manuscripts. And the very reason that it is not only the first edition of Oliver Twist, one of the great novels of English literature but also it was adorned by Dickens to William Harrison Ainsworth, a novelist colleague.

CAPTAIN Haddock would have choked on his whisky: original artwork for a Tintin comic book fetched a record US$1.2 million at a Paris auction on March 29th.

The 1932 oil painting, executed for the iconic cover of Tintin in America smashed the previous world record for an original comic book work.

That was set in March 2007 when a drawing by artist Enki Bilal called Bleu Sang (Blue Blood) fetched €177,000.

Melted down, a gold Ming Dynasty bowl would sell for about $30,000, twice as much as four years ago. At a Hong Kong auction next month, the imperial vessel may fetch more than HK$60 million ($7.7 million), Sotheby’s said.

Inscribed with dragons and set with pearls, turquoise, rubies and sapphires, the three-legged vessel — made with 1.3 kilograms of 18K gold — is the highlight of Sotheby’s auction of more than 25 gold and precious-metal objects in Hong Kong on April 11, the New York-based auction house said. The lots may raise a combined HK$100 million, said Sotheby’s.[...]

“Timing couldn’t be better,” said Tian Kai, a Beijing- based art dealer. “Gold is all the rage right now.”

Sotheby’s Hong Kong was offered the consignment in mid- January, days before the cut-off date for assembling lots for the auction, said Nicolas Chow, the auction house’s head of Chinese ceramics and artworks. He declined to identify the seller. Several European and Asian private collectors have inquired about the consignment.

“Gold is the most comprehensive marker of luxury in ancient cultures, including the Ming Dynasty,” said Chow. “If fine porcelain from these eras could fetch record prices, there is no reason art made with costlier material couldn’t fare better.”

The record for a Qing ceramic was set in November 2006 when Hong Kong businesswoman Alice Cheng paid HK$151.3 million for a porcelain bowl at a Christie’s International auction. Several private collectors, including casino magnate Stanley Ho, have bought imperial artifacts at auction and donated them to China in the past few years. [...]

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To contact the reporters on this story: Le-Min Lim in Hong Kong at lmlim@bloomberg.net