This will be a little bit of an off-topic post.
The past five days I was busy in Las Vegas, supporting Julien’s Auctions run their live sales via JuliensLive.com, which is powered 100% by my company’s auction software which I conceptualized together with my business partners and which was implemented and is constantly being refined and improved by our brilliant and dedicated team of developers.
Among other things, Michael Jackson’s crystal glove sold for over $190,000, his Beat It jacket changed owners for over $130,000 and Marylin Monroe’s chest X-rays (!!) sold for over $45,000.
The sale was a huge success and has shown the world how well we are able to support live auctions in real time while people from all over the world participate and how superior our thin client bidding application is to comparable bidding applications that require people to install heavy plugins.
Here are some news articles about the sale.
Michael Jackson Glove Fetches $190,000 At Auction:
One of Michael Jackson’s crystal-studded gloves has fetched $190,000 at auction.
The glove, worn during the singer’s Victory Tour in 1984, was the star lot during the sale at Julien’s Auctions in Las Vegas.
Other items included a worn pair of Jackson’s loafers, which sold for $90,000. A stage jacket, expected to raise $6,000, sold for $120,000.
“It just shows you Michael Jackson is the most sought after and most collectible celebrity of all time. It was just phenomenal,” auction owner Darren Julien told the Las Vegas Review Journal..
“People flew in from Asia, Russia, all over. Now that he’s gone, we now realise the true legend we lost.”
The auction coincided with the first anniversary of the star’s death on June 25 last year.
Marilyn Monroe’s Chest X-Rays Sell for $45,000:
A set of three of Marilyn Monroe’s chest X-rays from 1954 have sold for $45,000 at a movie memorabilia auction in Las Vegas. The X-rays had a $3,000 pre-estimate before the Planet Hollywood auction took place.
The pictures of Monroe’s chest and pelvis were bought by two anonymous bidders at the event, which was presented by Julien’s Auctions. The frontal shot was bought for $25,000 by one bidder, while the pelvic and side chest shot were sold at $10,000 each to another bidder.
President and CEO of Julien’s Auctions, Darren Julien, said, “[the x-ray] was taken around the time she was believed to be pregnant and rumor has it that she had a miscarriage.” The x-ray was taken at the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital.
Other items that were sold included a chair from Monroe’s final photo shoot ($3,000), Kate Winslet’s earrings from Titanic ($25,000), Audrey Hepburn’s dress from Funny Face ($56,250) and Michael Jackson’s crystal-studded gloves ($190,000).
I recommend you take a look at the results yourself by browsing through them.
The next sale will be in October in Macau where among other things the black crystal glove will be sold which Michael Jackson was wearing at his wedding.