A look at some world's most expensive antiques
An emerald and diamond tiara is displayed at Sotheby's auction house in London May 4, 2011. The tiara, which value is estimated between $5-10 million, was auctioned off in Geneva on May 17, 2011.
A silver openface keyless lever chronograph watch (L) and an oversized silver hour angle aviator's wristwatch with indirect sweep centre seconds are pictured during an auction preview at Christie's in Geneva April 1, 2011. The items signed Longines, formerly the property of Air Marshal Italo Balbo and received probably from Col. Charles Lindberg for the wristwatch, carry a price estimate between US$ 30,000 and 50,000.
Mathias Rajani, Danish luxury product company Aesir's chief commercial officer, holds a model of his company's new mobile phone during a press presentation in Moscow September 5, 2011. It doesn't do email, the internet, have a camera, games or GPS navigation, but a new mobile phone from Denmark is literally solid gold. Danish retailer Aesir said it hopes to sell its $57,400, limited-edition 18-carat gold phones to Moscow's fashion-forward elite.
An employee holds a fourteenth century Mamluk candlestick at Sotheby's in central London April 1, 2011. Valued between 2-3 million pounds sterling, the piece was a part of the London sale of Islamic arts on April 6, 2011.
A Christie's employee holds a 17th-century silver and brass inlaid Bidri Ewer valued at £8,000-£10,000 (US $13,000-16,000) at Christie's in London April 4, 2011.
The engraved Persian names of Mughal Emperor Jahangir and his grandson Alamgir are pictured on a spinel during an auction preview at Christie's in Geneva April 1, 2011. The spinel is part of an Imperial Mughal necklace with eleven baroque spinels, weighing 1,136.63 carats, three stone are engraved with the name of its owner. Valued between US$ 1,500,000-2,500,000, it went under the hammer on May 18, 2011 in Geneva.
Christie's Islamic art specialist Sara Plumbly holds a gold and turquoise-hilted knife valued at £400,000-£600,000 (US $650,000-$970,000)at Christie's in London April 4, 2011.
A Gujarati mother-of-pearl and black composition overlaid wooden pen box from northwest India, valued at £100,000-150,000 (US $160,000-240,000), is displayed at Christie's in London April 4, 2011.
A model displays the Sun-Drop diamond during a media preview in Hong Kong October 6, 2011. The 110.03 carats diamond has been graded Fancy Vivid Yellow, the highest color grading for a yellow diamond. The diamond will be sold in auction at Sotheby's Geneva on November 15 and expected to fetch US$11-15 million.
A Bonhams employee poses with the Bulgari crossover ring set with 3.72 carat fancy vivid blue diamond and 3.93 carat diamond at Bonhams auction house in London September 21, 2011. The piece, dated circa 1960, is valued upto 800,000 pounds( $1.3 million).
A Hello Kitty figurine, studded with a total of 19,636 Swarovski crystals, is displayed during a press preview of Swarovski's Hello Kitty collection at an event entitled 'House of Hello Kitty' in Tokyo on June 29, 2011. The figurine, limited to 88, carries a price tag of 1,155,000 yen ($14,246).
Christie's Islamic art specialist Sara Plumbly holds a safavid tinned-copper bowl from the second half of the 14th centry valued at £400,000-£600,000 (US $650,000-$970,000) at Christie's in London April 4, 2011.
Ultra rare magnums of Le Pin 1982 wine are displayed at Sotheby's ahead of their auction next week, in London June 10, 2011. Valued approx in the range of 50-60,000 pounds ($81-98,000), a case of six magnums were auctioned off in June.
A Sotheby's employee poses with artist Alberto Giacometti's artwork 'Trois hommes qui marchent II' at Sotheby's Auction House in London June 17, 2011. The piece is valued upto £15million ($24.23 million).
Sotheby's employee John Dinklemeyer adjusts Paul Gauguin's 'Jeune tahitienne', a sculpture carved during the artist's first trip to Tahiti between 1891 and 1893, at Sotheby's in New York, March 24, 2011. The intricate wooden bust, valued at as much as $15 million, was auctioned off, on May 3, according to Sotheby's. It depicts a young, unidentified Tahitian woman and includes jewelry which Gauguin made himself using seashells and pieces of red coral.
Christie's Islamic art specialist Sara Plumbly holds a Fatimid bronze gazelle dating from the late 10th to early 11th century Egypt valued at £800-£1 million (US$1.6-1.3 million) at Christie's in London April 4, 2011. The piece was auctioned off in London on April 7, 2011 along with other art of the Islamic and Indian world.
A Sotheby's employee poses with 'Gudrun (633)' by Gerhard Richter from 1987 at Sotheby's in London October 7, 2011. It is valued between 3.5 million - 4.8 million pounds ($5.5 million - 7.5 million).
A visitor views detail of a page of the sixteenth century folio 'Faridun in the Guise of a Dragon Tests His Sons' at Sotheby's in central London April 1, 2011. Valued between 2-3million pounds sterling, the piece forms part of the scholarly collection of Islamic and Indian Art assembled by the late Stuart Cary Welch.
Two unmounted emeralds weighing 17.97 and 15.99 carats are pictured during an auction preview at Christie's in Geneva April 1, 2011. Valued between US$ 200,000-300,000, the former property of Empress Eugenie (portrait) was auctioned off on May 18, 2011 in Geneva.
A Christie's employee models The Rosebery pearl and diamond tiara, bracelet and brooch at Christie's in London June 6, 2011. The tiara carries an estimate price of £1-1.5 million (US $1.6-2.5 million) and the bracelet and brooch, were auctioned off in London on June 8.
A fine and rare famille-rose 'peach' vase, Tianqiuping, with a seal mark and period of Qianlong, which is estimated to fetch 10.3 to 15.4 million dollars, is shown during a Sotheby's preview in Hong Kong September 7, 2011. The auction house will hold its Autumn sale in early October, with a total of over 310 lots of imperial Chinese porcelains which estimated a total vale of over 150 million dollars.
A Sotheby's employee poses for a photograph with an 18 carat gold sculpture of Kate Moss entitled 'Microcosmos (Siren)' by Marc Quinn at Sotheby's in London October 7, 2011. The artwork is valued between 500,000 - 700,000 pounds ($777,000 - 1.1 million