Last weekend at Acker Merrall & Condit’s first Hong Kong auction of 2009, a 1928 Krug set a new world record for the most expensive bottle of Champagne sold at auction.

The 75cl bottle, from the Krug Collection range (the library collection of the renowned Reims Champagne house), fetched 164,560 Hong Kong dollars ($21,100 USD) after several rounds of fierce bidding.

The record was previously held by a Methuselah (6 litre bottle) of Louis Roederer, Cristal Brut 1990, Millenium 2000 that sold in the US for US$17,625 in December 2005.

Skyloft Penthouse in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood has become the most expensive condominium ever sold in downtown Manhattan.

Conceived by James Carpenter Design Associates, the modern duplex loft with distinctive glass constructions sits on top of a building dating from the 1920s and offers panoramic views of the city from the 14th floor.

The interior of the 145 Hudson Street loft is the work of Roger Marvel Architects and is meant to bring together the inside and outside spaces, for instance through the presence of glass doors leading onto terraces.

A rare manuscript of a speech by Abraham Lincoln calling on the country to unite amid civil war in 1864 sold at auction Thursday for 3.4 million dollars.

The sale, held at Christie’s in New York on the 200th anniversary of Lincoln’s birth, was a record for a US historical manuscript, according to the auction house, and inside the three to four million dollar estimate.

In the November 10, 1864 speech, made shortly after he won re-election, Lincoln wrote: “Now that the election is over, may not all, having a common interest, reunite in a common effort, to save our common country?” Source: AFP

At the “Ferrari Leggenda e Passione”, an exclusive event held annually in Maranello, Italy, during the Mille Miglia, this year on May 17, RM/Sothebys auction will present the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa race car.

This masterpiece of design and engineering is expected to break the world record for the most expensive vintage motor car ever to be sold at auction.

The record is currently held by a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spyder which was sold for USD 10,894,400 (€7,040,000, £5,598,208 GBP) at least year’s Ferrari Leggenda e Passione, on May 18, 2008.

Christie’s on Wednesday sold an extremely rare, 17th century fancy deep grayish-blue diamond for $24.3 million, a world record price for any diamond or jewelry sold at auction in London.

The 35.56-ct. Wittelsbach diamond was once owned by King Philip IV of Spain, who purchased for his daughter, Margarita Teresa, for her engagement to Leopold I of Austria in 1664. It was mined in India and owned by the same private collector since 1964.

The price for Wittelsbach topped the previous record of $16.5 million for a 100ct diamond in 1995 in Geneva.

If you are a record collector, your significant other is a very special person. They are able to take and accept your love of 180 gram vinyl and the reality that it will be part of the family - always there and sounding real good. For years, the solution to your partner’s acceptance of your vinyl was to store it in either a backroom, basement, or in the living room using the IKEA Expedit shelving system.

The good people at Atocha Design raise the bar in vinyl storage with their “The Record Cabinet”. Finished in American Walnut and fashioned in the form of a bureau, this cabinet not only stores 95 LPs per drawer but it can also hold CDs as well as 7 inches vinyl. The price does not come low though. The cabinet retails at $12,500.