The Cartier Diamond Part I

Quite a few records broken at auction recently, which reminded me of a great auction story: the 1969 battle between #RichardBurton and #RobertKenmore (then the owner of #CartierNY) for a pear-shaped 69.42ct diamond ring.

Until then, the auction record for a diamond jewel was $385k (for a necklace that was part of the estate of #MaeRovensky) but this knuckleduster ring was expected to smash through that. Part of the deal was that the new owner could rename it (it was being sold anonymously through #ParkeBernet) and it soon attracted interest from the Sultan of Brunei, #HarryWinston and #AristotleOnassis. It was even flown to Gstaad so that #ElizabethTaylor could see it close-up. When she fell in love with it, her husband, Burton, instructed his agent to bid as high as one million dollars.

The auction began at $200k with almost everyone in the room shouting “Yes!” By $500k only 9 people were still bidding. By $850k there were just 2 bidders left, Kenmore and Burton’s agent.

As the bids mounted, the auctioneer worried whether he was receiving the correct signals. He later explained that Kenmore had “told me that as long as his arms were folded, he was bidding.” Kenmore, cool as a cucumber standing by the side door, kept his arms crossed as the bids kept rising. “When the bidding reached $900k, everyone in the room started hyper-ventilating, but he was stone-faced. The excitement and tension were unbelievable.” The problem was that as the magic $1 million figure was reached, the audience leapt up in excitement: “all of a sudden the audience started standing up and that posed a problem - you couldn't see the bidders”.

Only when the auction room was asked to sit down did the auctioneer see that Burton’s agent had dropped out and that Kenmore appeared to be frozen in the same position, by the door, arms crossed. ''It was only when I knocked it down at $1,050,000 and said 'Cartier' that Kenmore smiled and uncrossed his arms”. He – and his nonchalant crossed arms - had won the day and as the NY Times would later report, the diamond was renamed the #CartierDiamond. But not for long. Burton did not like to let down his leading lady… (to be continued).