Necklace fetches $1.4mn at Dubai auction

PEARL DUBAI: An unidentified bidder paid 10 times more than the estimated range for a necklace once owned by Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum. (Getty Images)

A pearl necklace once owned by the Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum was sold on Tuesday for 5.1 million dirhams ($1.39 million) at a Dubai auction.

An unidentified bidder paid 10 times more than the estimated range of 293,600-400,000 dirhams for the bejewelled piece, after a tense battle with a second conteder at the million-dollar mark.

Fashioned into nine rows with 1,888 pearls, the 18th century Indian necklace was presented to the singer by the late Sheikh Zayed, founder and ruler of the UAE.

The Christie’s auction of jewels and watches at the Emirates Towers Hotel also saw a 41.5 carat diamond ring sold for 2.27 million dirhams, with an emerald and diamond ring going for 2.6 million and a white gold dice for 29,360 dirhams.

Christie’s fourth sale of International Modern & Contemporary Art is expected to fetch in excess of $10 million in Dubai on Wednesday.

Works by artists including Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana and Anish Kapoor are to go under the hammer, with estimates ranging from $10,000 to $1 million.

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