Govt. Auction Brings Out Luxury Watches, Gold Coins For Black Friday Auction

More than 1,330 lots will be offered in the one-day auction with bids opening at at only $2 on more lots.

TEHACHAPI, Calif. – Government Auction's Nov. 23, 2012 Black Friday auction will launch the holiday season with a sizable cache of luxury goods that includes designer watches, precious gems and gold coins. More than 1,300 lots will be offered in the one-day auction, with bids opening at only $2 on most lots. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide the Internet live bidding for the sale.

An exceptional Patek Philippe Geneve watch is an elite auction highlight in the timepiece category. The Patek Phillipe Company was founded in 1839 and has remained a family-owned business through four generations of Sterns since 1932. The company is, in fact, Geneva's oldest independent family-owned watch manufacturer. Patek Phillippe watches are quite exclusive, with roughly 200 models created in intentionally small production series, thereby ensuring their rarity.

The pre-owned Patek Phillippe to be auctioned by Government Auction is a simple yet classic design composed of a black leather band, steel case and white face with black Roman numerals. Another fine luxury watch in the sale is a Men's Rolex Oyster. The watch is a vintage example of stainless steel with a white face.

Included within the multitude of fine jewelry pieces is a stunning 27.04-carat pear-cut blue sapphire and diamond ring. The ring is composed of 14K white gold with the large sapphire elevated above the band portion of the ring. The band enclosure is V-shaped to match the proportions and composition of the main sapphire and is surrounded by 1.82 carats of diamonds on the side.

In keeping with the holiday weekend’s luxury theme, Government Auction will present the gift to please any woman who favors designer brands: a Louis Vuitton "Claudia" purse. Brand new from the Louis Vuitton factory, the top-handle bag is mainly white with multicolor leather straps and corners with the “LV” signature design prominently featured as a multicolored pattern throughout. The monogram multicolor is a creation of designer Takashi Murakami, exclusively for Louis Vuitton.

For numismatics enthusiasts or gold investors, the Black Friday event includes a coveted rarity: an 1881 U.S. $10 Liberty gold coin. Known as "Eagles," coins of this type are composed of 90% gold and 10% copper, a combination that renders a deep, rich golden patina. This particular type of coin was minted from 1866-1907 in Philadelphia. The obverse features a golden-coifed Lady Liberty, while a majestic American Eagle appears on verso.

The sale’s antique category is led by Lot 47a, an antique Regina music box. This stately machine made around 1900 has an automatic 27.5-inch disc changer encased in luscious mahogany with spindle railing on top of the cabinet and carved corbels.

Other auction highlights include a 2.65-carat princess-cut diamond gemstone, an Audemars Piguet wristwatch, a Mills Hi-Top 5-cent slot machine, a National Cash Register Model 13 and more.

View a video of auction highlights at http://youtu.be/JsrPOXUTqUE .

For additional information on any lot in the sale, call Debbie on 661-823-1543 or e-mail info@governmentauction.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

 

  

       

Louis Vuitton handbag in motif designed by Takashi Murakami. Government Auction image.

LiveAuctioneers.com Posts Impressive Gains

Buoyant traffic, increased mobile bidding boost LiveAuctioneers’ Q3 results

       

NEW YORK – An aggressive European campaign and continued growth in bidding through mobile devices set the stage for impressive 3rd-quarter results from LiveAuctioneers LLC (www.LiveAuctioneers.com).

Soon to conclude its 10th year of operations, LiveAuctioneers is widely regarded as the leading provider of Internet live-bidding services to antiques and fine art auction houses worldwide. The Manhattan-based company has developed a sector-specific model that is based on the simple premise of “more traffic, more bidders, more profits,” said CEO Julian R. Ellison.

During the 3rd quarter of 2102, there were 8.5 million visits to the LiveAuctioneers site, reflecting an increase of 21.29% over the comparable quarter of last year. The number of absolute unique visitors – 4, 765,689 – was up 12.75% over Q3 2011.

“What was most satisfying was the 1.4 million visits recorded through mobile devices,” said Ellison. “This showed a 161.94 percent jump over last year’s third-quarter figure. We were among the early believers in mobile bidding and developed an app when it was still a curiosity in the marketplace. It’s now very much a part of our core business.”

Statistics also verify that during the last quarter, mobile users stayed on the LiveAuctioneers site longer and viewed more pages than mobile users of Q3 2011.

From all sources, there were more than 72 million page views on LiveAuctioneers.com during the months of July, August and September. Compared to the same quarter of last year, this indicates an increase of 30.6%. Additionally, more than 289,000 absentee bids were lodged online through LiveAuctioneers.

During the third quarter, the company achieved a milestone by signing its 1,400th auction-house client. Many of the new customers were American auction houses, but Europe also proved to be a hotbed of new business. By the close of September, LiveAuctioneers’ clientele included 26 auction houses in the UK, 23 in Germany and 7 in Italy.

“There are few corners of the world that are not represented in our client base, now,” said Ellison. “Auctioneers consider LiveAuctioneers an indispensable part of their marketing plan and realize that exposure on our site and the ability to offer their customers absentee and live online bidding is the most effective way to attract quality bidders worldwide.”

Fine paintings are consistently amongst the top-selling items on LiveAuctioneers. That trend continued in the third quarter with the sale of a signed Carl C.M. Rungius (German/American, 1869-1959) oil-on-canvas landscape titled “Moose on a Ridge.” Descended through a Virginia family, the artwork had been exhibited in 1908 at the prestigious Salmagundi Club in New York. It was purchased through LiveAuctioneers for $188,800 (inclusive of 18% buyer’s premium) in Copley Fine Art Auctions’ July 12 sale.

“As we enter our second decade, LiveAuctioneers is making a significant investment in new technology, marketing and website design,” Ellison noted. “We believe that these improvements will result in many new-bidder signups, which, in turn, will benefit our auction-house clients. Our goal is to make the LiveAuctioneers experience – from catalog browsing to bidding and buying – an enjoyable one for all who collect, invest in art or simply want to acquire unusual pieces for their homes or offices.”

Click to view a video that shows an auction in progress through the LiveAuctioneers bidding platform:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD7aSvcHjxw

Carl C.M. Rungius (German/American, 1869-1959),‘Moose on a Ridge,’ oil on canvas, sold by Copley Fine Art Auctions to a LiveAuctioneers.com bidder for $188,800. Image courtesy of Copley Fine Art Auctions and LiveAuctioneers.com Archive.

 

Merton D. Simpson Gallery To Auction Tribal Art Treasures Online, Nov. 17

The auction lineup features a highly refined selection of more than 30 objects from the traditional areas of Africa.

NEW YORK – The Merton D. Simpson Gallery of Tribal and Contemporary Art will conduct a special online auction, titled “Small and Beautiful Treasures,” on Saturday, Nov. 17, beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern Time. LiveAuctioneers.com will provide Internet live-bidding services for the sale.

The auction lineup features a highly refined selection of more than 30 objects from the traditional arts of Africa collected by Merton D. Simpson nearly 40 years ago. They include rare objects evoking prestige and power, such as a fine Yoruba ibeji and divination platter.

Established in 1954, Merton D. Simpson Gallery of African, Oceanic and Contemporary Art houses an extensive, museum-quality collection. The gallery has always taken a global approach and maintains an exciting inventory of painting, sculpture and decorative arts acquired through Simpson's travels and from a circle of knowledgeable, well-connected friends in all corners of the world.

Simpson was part of a global movement of artists coming of age in the mid-20th century. These artists, who included Romare Bearden and the Spiral Collective; Hale Woodruff, Willem de Kooning and Pablo Picasso, were heavily influenced by traditional works and art practices. Simpson assisted in cultivating these talents and the movement itself, both as a world-renowned philanthropist and collector, and as a fully involved hands-on artist.

With an eye considered second to none in his field, and with more than 50 years of successful business transactions with galleries in New York City and Paris, Merton D. Simpson is one of the most respected African and tribal art dealers in the world. The Merton D. Simpson Gallery of Tribal and Contemporary Art has been instrumental in helping individuals and institutions build comprehensive, culturally significant collections.

For additional information on any item in the Nov. 17 online auction, call the gallery at 212-686-6735 or e-mail mdsgallerynyc@gmail.com.

View the fully illustrated catalog and sign up to bid absentee or live via the Internet at www.LiveAuctioneers.com.

 

Songye Kifwebe mask, Zaire, wood, 11 inches. Est. $7,500-$11,250. Merton D. Simpson photo.

Alaina Simone

212-686-6735

mdsgallerynyc@gmail.com

38 W. 28^th St. Fl 5

New York, NY 10001