Christie’s, the world’s leading auction house that has been in the forefront of adopting modern technology for their sales, by introducing online bidding at its auctions worldwide since 2006, has again set another precedent by announcing its first exclusively online sale of selected items from the collection of the internationally renowned Hollywood celebrity, fashion icon, successful businesswoman and humanitarian, Dame Elizabeth Taylor, to be held between December 3 and December 17, 2011,and running concurrently with the exhibition and live auctions of the other items in the collection, taking place during the same period, at the Christie’s flagship Rockefeller Plaza location at New York. Out of over 2,000 items in her collection, recognized as one of the greatest private collections ever assembled, over 950 items have been selected for this two-week long, exclusive online sale, and for easy navigation will be offered under four categories – Fine Jewelry, Fashion & Accessories, Costume Jewelry, and Decorative Arts & Memorabilia.
Over 500 pieces of fine and costume jewelry have been hand-selected for the online sale that includes exceptional Art Deco jewelry and an array of signed jewels by Cartier, Chanel, Christian Dior, Ruser and others. Dame Elizabeth Taylor’s vast collection of jewelry, appropriately dubbed the “Crown Jewels of Hollywood” reflects the legendary actress’ lifelong love affair with jewelry in all its forms, from her most iconic jewels including diamonds, gemstones, historic jewels and one-of-a-kind creations to her many cherished everyday adornments of designer and costume earrings, bracelets, necklaces, rings and brooches. Starting estimates for her fine and costume jewelry range from as low as $100 for a pair of Chanel ear clips with the designer’s signature ”CC” to as high as $10,000 for a diamond and 18k white-gold necklace set with 126 circular-cut diamonds. The online Fashion & Accessories category consists of more than 400 pieces, that includes designer clothing from Chanel, Dior and Halston to Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent and others; designer handbags including 22 spectacular bags by Dior and Valentino and a range of luxury accessories by Cartier, Louboutin, Fendi,Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada.
The two-week online sale complements four days of back-to-back live auctions of the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor that begins on December 13 with the Special Evening Sale of Elizabeth Taylor’s Legendary Jewels, consisting of 80 of her most iconic jewels, and continues until December 16, with additional auctions of fine jewelry, and Haute Couture on December 14, Fashion and Accessories on December 15, and Fine and Decorative Art & Film Memorabilia, including costumes on December 16. Impressionist and Modern Art from her collection are due to be auctioned in London in February 2012.
The global three-month tour of the collection highlights that has so far covered Moscow, London, Los Angeles, Dubai, Geneva and Paris, had been a tremendous success, with thousands of people genuinely moved by the legacy of Elizabeth Taylor, and eager to be part of the culminating events taking place in New York , from December 3 – 16, 2011. It was in view of this, that Christie’s had taken the innovative step of adding the special online-only component, to complement the live auctions, to enable Elizabeth Taylor’s legions of fans, as well as collectors worldwide, to participate in the auctions, no matter where they lived.
Christie’s has offered prospective buyers a sneak peek at a selection of highlights from the online-only sale, beginning November 14, 2011, as part of a special arrangement with luxury fashion retailer, Moda Operandi, at their website, www.shop.modaoperandi.com/ElizabethTaylor . However, as from November 18, 2011, the full complement of online-only lots is available for viewing at the Christie’s website at www.christies.com/etonlineonly.
Beginning December 3, prospective bidders will be able to register online, and place bids for the lots of their choice in a timed auction, that will run concurrent with the public exhibition and live auctions of “The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor” taking place at Christie’s New York, from December 3 to 16, 2011.
Michael O‟Neal, Senior Vice President and Director of Digital Media at Christie’s, said, “We are honored to launch our first online-only sale with Elizabeth Taylor’s stunning collection, which has inspired such international interest since we first announced the sales in May. Through the innovation and commitment of our sale team here at Christie’s, we are delighted to expand on our many successful years of providing real-time online bidding in our live auctions, to now launch this additional online-only platform that will help us serve an even broader global audience of collectors and fans.”