The big and ugly King Kong still manages to strike a chord with us with his purity of heart and sheer innocence. We are not talking movies here, if you are starting to think of this post as a film review. Well, it is the memorabilia of the 1933 King Kong film (perhaps, the original one) that had caught everyone’s attention at the Christie’s South Kensigton auction that we are actually going to talk about here.

Well, the famous auction house had put the original armature from the epic King Kong film’s final scenes for sale. And lo and behold! The struture went for a huge figure of $200,305.
The metal armature is not very big at 22 inches in height. Imagine this was used to terrorize the city of New York and climb the Emore State Building. Wow, for the wonders of film making! The auction in reference also sold Marilyn Monroe’s black silk evening dress for $15,488 and Daniel Craig’s sunglasses from the James Bond film ‘Quantam of Solace’ at $1,961. In fact, all the sales realised an impressive sum total of $858,153.

Via artdaily

Music lovers will be happy to know that very soon Moscow will be treated to some delicious musical notes that come from one of the costliest violins in the world. So if you have the time and money, you should very well make it to the Russian captial for the grand event. This violin goes by the name Ex-Vieuxtemps and was made by the venerated Giuseppe Guarneri in 1741.

A little bit of research told us that this violin has a long list of famous owners that also includes the great violinist and composer of the 19th Century, Henri Vieuxtemps maybe that is the reason why the violin is called so.

Well, in 2008 this musical instrument was purchased by a Russian lawyer and businessman, Maxim Viktorov. And since the violin has been so closely associated wit Pagnini, it has been decided to play on it to mark the great composer’s  to honour legendary musician Paganini’s 227th birth anniversary that falls this year. Apparently, it was Pagnini who heard Henri play this same violin at 14 and predicted that the boy would grow to be a great man. Famous Japanese violinist Kyoko Yonemoto will have the honor of playing this violin at a special concert at Moscow’s Conervatorium.

Via russiatoday

The world saw its most expensive coin at the recently held auction in Barcelona. Organised by Auero & Calicó, this grand event had a participating coin that is being celebrated as the last one from the 1609 centen coin which is remarkable as the biggest solid gold coin to be ever minted in Spain.

A very rare money, this coin attracted a lot of attention from bidders, onlookers and media alike. Finally, it was sold to a huge bid of $1,202,566. The identity of the lucky bidder has been kept anonymous. We just know him as the bidder no. 74 and that this super rich person came from Europe. In fact, the surprised on his face was quite evident when he saw that absolutely no one challenged his opening  bid of 1,202,566.

The coin in question was minted in Segovia and belonged to the priceless Knight of the Yndias collection that was on auction in Barcelona. There were other 2,200 rare items in gold on auction too. But it was this coin that stole the limelight.

Via thinkspain

Gold spells good business in these difficult financial times. And with the price going over $1,000 an ounce, there is a suddent gold rush among the people who are looking for a safe investment to put their savings in. That is just the reason why gold bars have come back into fashion. Now, even brands likes Harrods have decided to take a detour from the conventional path and sell bullions at the very same counter that sells other gold jewelry too.

According to The London Times, the Knightbridge store has started stacking the miniature vault with pure Swiss gold bullions to cater to the growing demand for the same in the precious metal market. Again, there is the option of buying gold coins too.

All this is happening with a collaboration between Harrods and the Swiss refiner  Produits Artistiques Metaux Precieux. They are also offering online sales as not everyone would want to brave the traffic to reach the department store. You can be sure of the purity too for a gold bar comes nothing less than $466,000. The brand is also offering a safe deposit box in case you do not have a proper place to store the bullion in.

Via timesonline

Expect the Ambanis to make news for their wealth. Well, this time it is elder bro Mukesh who has caught everyone’s attention not with more but less money (comparatively)! Well, setting an example for austerity, the richest man in Asia has decided to take a cut of 66 per cent in his paycheck to set a personal example. And this he did without anyone having to ask him to do so!

Ambani is the chairman of the Reliance Industries Ltd., and after the cut his salary will amount to approximately $3.3 million. This is apart from the $216 million his family will earn from the 49 per cent of dividends it owns in the company. Following in Mahesh’s footsteps, is younger bro Anil who too has decided to give up salary and commission from his five companies.

Now, this is a rare example Mukesh is setting for he has always been in news for his extravagance like gifting wife dearest an Airbus 319 plane on her birthday. We also hear that Mukesh is  currently busy getting the most lavish home, a 27-story skyscraper, in the world built for $2 billion.

Via bloomberg

Imagine a rug fetching a stunning price of $4.34 million. And this thing can be reality (in fact it is so) when the rug in question is the one of the famed ones from Safavid and apparently was a gift from the Safavid Persian court to the Ottoman Turks and must have been used for prayers by the blue blood too. Despite its age, the rug is in a remarkable condition. This artefact represents some gorgeous Persian handicraft and art which was particularly appreciated by Genoan and Venetian merchants.

Sold at Sotheby’s, the rug was expected to fetch anywhere between $130,000 and $192,000 or so claimed the Head of the Middle East & India Department at the store, Edward Gibbs.

Persian rugs and carpets are a venerated line which is much admired all over the world. The intricate embroidery and designs that make use of the finest of silks as well as gold and silver threads, these are nothing short of a work of art. The Safavid rug was just one of the items being sold at the Arts of the Islamic World exhibition at Sotheby’s recently.

Via artdaily

Oh Jesus! How else do you react to the news of a celebrity buying a luxury New York apartment costing $2.73 million for someone who could be best described as a ‘current flame’? The celeb in question is popstar Madonna and the flat is for her boytoy Jesus Luz. Tabloids have been keeping the curious updated on the flaming relationship between the two. And from what we hear, Madge and Jesus are all eager to celebrate a commmitment ceremony, which is really one step short of a wedding!

Madonna has not shied away from declaring to the world that she loves Jesus very much and wants him to stay near her $40 million house in NYC. That said, she isn’t ready to marry him because of her bitter marital experiences from the past.

But that hasn’t stopped the multi-millionaire singer from pampering her young lover in every possible way. She buys him top notch DJ tuition as well as expensive musical equipment that cost nothing less tan $48,000. Jesus, on his part, looks a stunner all the way!

Via contactmusic

There are a couple of things that we know about the Manchester City team apart from their being real rich, is the fact they can play a very spirited game and love with the same gusto! Stephen Ireland, the 23 years old Irish midfielder is making news for his huge spending lately. Well, the man shelled out a huge $422,220 only to busy a very pimped-up version of a Bentley for his Wag girlfriend Jessica Lawlor. Well, the occasion was a special one – it was Jessica’s birthday! No wonder Ireland wanted to make the occasion memorable.

The car is a coupe and is donned in shades of spunky red and white, which are really the colors of rival Manchester United. Plus there are several embroidered hearts too. We are informed that only to get the winged insignia changed to Jessica’s initials, JL, the footballer had to pay £1,000.

And that was not where the ‘blinging up’ stopped. An amount of £2,000 was shelled out to get the customized red leather seats with a message, “To Jess Love From Stephen” surroounded by a heart. Even the tailored bright red alloy wheels have Jessicas’s initials courtesy the £5,000 her boyfriend spent. The Bentley has a 6-liter, 552 bhp engine with an assured top speed of 198 mph in just 4.8 seconds.

Via dailymail

It was only a while ago that we were reporting the discovery of the Ganesha diamond at an Orra mine in Africa. Well, here is yet another rare diamond discovery by a company called Petra Diamond Ltd. Shaped like a chicken egg, this gorgeous rock too has been found in a South African mine which is located in Northeast Pretoria.

The huge discovery was made last Thursday. It has been revealed to the public that the diamond weighs approximately 100 grams with a value of 507.55 carats. It’s exceptional color and clarity are remarkable. In fact, experts are already counting this find among the top 20 high-quality gems.

The same mine gave us the Cullinan (3106 carats) some time back. That discovery too caught the attention of the world and it now sits as part of Britain’s Imperial Scepter amidst the Crown Jewels. So far no value has been attached to the newly discovered diamond. We think the owner will probably exhibit this beauty all over the world first and then maybe decide on a price. Though, this diamond might not necessarily be on sale.

Via foxnews

There is one piece of cloth that is driving a lot of people to come to the American Natural History Museum in NYC. We are talking about a magnificent textile made from extremely soft but strong silk fiber that comes from a local spider. Measuring an impressive 11 feet by 4 feet, this one took four long years to be designed and woven.

We are told that this is a one of its kind piece of textile ever exhibited in the world. The silk fiber that has made jaws drop comes from the female orb spider, which is a species famed for its yellow-hued webs. These spiders were collected from telephone wires everyday by a host of people by using long poles. In fact, these giant spiders are also commonly found in Madagascar. So, these were silked and then released back into the wild every day.

The museum has a very fascinating video on the making of this tapestry with interviews from people like Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley who initiated this endeavor. Apparently, the dup shelled out close to half a million dollar for this little feat.

Via luxist