Gifting Made Easy: Gafencu’s 2020 Christmas Gift Guide

With Christmas just around the corner and the requisite gift-giving season soon to be upon us, have you ticked off all the items on your shopping list? If not, don’t worry, because the Gafencu team has curated an expansive Christmas gift guide with fantastic gift ideas for your loved ones. Read on to discover more…

For the sophisticated writer

Meisterstück Le Petit Prince & The Planet and Marilyn Monroe by Montblanc

For the writer in your life, Montblanc has added its third and final Meisterstück Le Petit Prince writing instrument to its collection, a three-part series inspired by one of the most read works of literature beloved by adults and children alike, Le Petit Prince. The German luxury goods manufacturer also has introduced a new Montblanc Muses Edition inspired by the forever iconic cultural icon, Marilyn Monroe.

For the watch lover

Rolex Sea-dweller

One of this year’s must-have item to include onto every watch aficionado’s Christmas shopping list is the Rolex Sea-Dweller. An ultra-resistant divers’ watches engineered for deep-sea exploration, the 60-minute graduated, unidirectional rotatable bezel enables divers to precisely and safely monitor their dive and decompression times. Designed to endure depths of up to 4,000 feet, this impressive for self-winding timepiece is a legend among dive watches and reflects the Swiss watchmaker’s decades of collaboration with diving professionals.

For the jewellery lover

Cartier’s [Sur] Naturel collection

For high-end jewellery maison Cartier, the creation of exceptional savoir-fair is in the connection between creativity and technique, as evidenced in its latest [Sur] Naturel Collection. Taking inspiration from nature and the supernatural, the Hemis necklace – one of the highlights of this new line – is the French luxury brand’s reinterpretation of panther fur around a lattice in kunzite, opals and diamonds. An alluring mastery of gem-setting and jewellery making indeed.

For the massage aficionado

uDream massage chair from OSIM

Spoil a loved one with some much-needed relaxation right in the comforts of their own home with the uDream massage chair by OSIM. With the design inspired by the metamorphosis of a butterfly, users will come out of this ‘cocoon’ with revitalised and rejuvenated. With its 5-sense stress relief programmes aim to relieve the tired body and mind, the massage chair monitors body tension through biosensors and a tracking feature accessible via uDream App records the long-term trend of body tension. The chair also features a light installation that emulates the colours of the northern lights. Built-in with speakers and an aromatherapy device, this chair will truly bring cheer this festive season.

For the oenophile

Orchidée decanter by Lalique

Raise the Christmas spirits of that special wine lover in your life with the Orchidée decanter by Lalique. Designed with wine collectors and connoisseurs in mind, its form is designed to enhance the flavours of the finest vintages. Made from French handcrafted crystal, a set of crystal orchid flowers bloom atop the stopper of the satin-finished carafe add a touch of luxury for the discerning vino lover.

For the music enthusiast

Beosound A1 2nd Gen speakers by Bang & Olfsen

A compact music box for any music enthusiast is the upgraded Beosound A1 2nd Gen by luxury audio technology company, Bang & Olfsen. The CNY special-edition item comes with a darker, more polished maroon exterior than its predecessors, replete with and leather straps. The portable speakers plays up to 18 hours on a full charge, and is truly one for the audiophile on the go. If that weren’t enough, it also boasts speakerphone functionality and a fully waterproof design that is also dust- and sand-resistant.

For the budding interior decorator

Bombom Sofas by Roche Bobois

For ample comfort and a touch of art, the Bombom Collection from French furniture brand, Roche Bobois in collaboration with Portugese designer Joana Vasconcelos, known for her large-scale quirky and flamboyant art installations, offers a flagship collection of sofas in vividly contrasting shapes and colours to decorate your living space. Designed to be part of a modular system, each piece is available in small, medium and large sizes, and can be merged with other pieces and flexibly rearranged in various forms to suit your comfort.

A taste for the extraordinary: Rare valuables that fetched record prices at major fall auctions

Extremely rare and extraordinary valuables, including a Qing dynasty moon flask and an exquisite French wine collection of tycoon Joseph Lau, drew a strong response from collectors and fetched record prices at auctions held in Fall by Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

A rare rose moonflask

A Qing dynasty antique draws top bids.

Among finest art pieces to hit the auction block in recent memory, the rare and exceptional small pink-ground Famille Rose Moonflask fetched a price of HK$4 million at Christie’s Pavilion Sale Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art, surpassing by a significant margin its HK$3.5 million pre-sale estimate.

The rare antique has enjoyed a long provenance, underscored by its iron-red four-character seal mark signed by the Qianlong Emperor (1735-1796) during the Qing dynasty, who was reputedly one of China’s foremost art collectors. The six-inch-tall flask is a truly finely-potted item. Its incised rose pink ground is decorated with floral scrolls, known as “flower brocade design”, which is said to be unique to the reign of the sixth Qing emperor. While many earlier designs were simply painted on a white background, the moon flask’s floral designs were set against a soft rose-pink background.

Another impressive item that highlighted that same auction was a pair of green-enamelled and iron red-decorated Peach Blossom Jardinieres a piece dating back to Emperor Kangxi’s reign (1661-1722). The rare item was sold for HK$2.1 million, more than eight times the pre-sale estimate.

A flawless diamond

A rare jewel breaks online auction

In a series of exceptional jewellery sales this fall, international auction house Sotheby’s amassed an impressive HK$426 million in revenue, boosted in no small measure by the disposal of the highly-sought-after 102.39-carat D colour Flawless Oval Diamond, which went under the hammer for an astounding HK$121.6 million at its Hong Kong Jewellery Autumn Sales on October 7.

The first world-class diamond ever to be auctioned without any reserve price, the rare gemstone fuelled a frenetic and exciting flurry of bids that rapidly zoomed up to gargantuan final price. It broke also the HK$85 million record previously for the most expensive jewellery auctioned online. The winning bidder was a Japanese national who quickly nicknamed the jewel as “Maiko Star” after his second daughter. Last summer, another Japanese man bought an 88.22-carat oval diamond for US$13.8 million, naming it “Manami Star” for his two girls.

Two days after the sale of the 102.39-carat diamond, the auction house sold an Imperial Green Jadeite Bead and Diamond Necklace for a price of HK$63 million. That particular transaction also helped bring Sotheby’s total jewellery sales revenue for the season to an impressive tally of HK$426 million.

Vintage Romanee-Conti

French fine wines lure oenophiles

A number of sensational wines from the cellar of tycoon Joseph Lau commanded premium prices during a two-day auction in Hong Kong on October 3. The fine wines extravaganza grossed HK$53 million, more than double the pre-sale estimate of HK$25.7 million. Lau’s collection enticed fellow oenophiles, all drawn by his 38-year reputation for collecting and keeping the finest French wines.

The sale was highlighted by the offer of 12 bottles of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1990 – made by one of the world’s most sought-after winemakers – which fetched a final price of HK$3.8 million.

Wine connoisseurs also displayed keen interest in iconic vinos of impeccable provenance from the Five-Star Cellar, which were highlighted by top-notch Bordeaux and Burgundy wines that were purchased on the original date of their release. They remained in professional storage in Britain until last month, when they made their way to the auction block. The collection, which was comprised of 172 items, generated a collective revenue of HK$97.8 million.

The Splash: A striking piece by David Hockney sells at Sotheby’s auction

David Hockney – a pioneering artist in the field of pop art – once said, “Everyone knows a splash can’t be frozen in time, so when you see it like that in a painting it’s even more striking than in a photograph.” Fast forward to 2020, the British artist’s work, a piece titled The Splash proved the statement true by becoming the winning piece of Sotheby‘s Contemporary Art Evening Auction in London recently.

Completed in 1966, this iconic piece was sold for £23.1 million, nearly eight times more than the price it fetched during its last trip to the auction block in 2006. The Splash is the second in the series of three masterpieces, along with Tate’s A Bigger Splash and The Little Splash that captures the action of water splashing right after a person dives into a pool.

Hockney, who moved from London to Los Angeles, was impressed by the city’s vibrant colours, bright sunshine and lifestyle, especially its plethora of private swimming pools, thus occurring in many of his works like the Picture of a Hollywood Swimming Pool that was auctioned at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Auction last November in New York.

In all, this Sotheby’s auction netted an impressive total sales figure of £92.5 million, with stand-out performers including Banksy’s Vote to Love, Francis Bacon’s Turning Figure and more.

Heavenly Harmony: Gorgeous jade necklace shines at auction

Say what you like, but you can seldom accuse Christie’s Hong Kong of over-hyping forthcoming sales. Its recent Magnificent Jewels Autumn Auction, for instance, did exactly what it said on the tin, with a truly spectacular selection of precious stone-encrusted items – rings, bracelets, earrings – all going under the gavel.

Every event, of course, needs a star turn and this singular sale didn’t disappoint on that front either. Despite stiff competition from several fine items, the piece that definitely topped the “oohs” and “aahs” table was, by common consent, a necklace, one exquisitely fashioned from jadeite and spinel (a prized cousin of the more highly-regarded ruby).

Admiringly known as Heavenly Harmony – a tribute to its superlative blend of exotic jewels and expert pairing – this rare piece ultimately commanded a purchase price of HK$73.5 million, some $20 million more than any other lot on offer. Described as having “the most vivid green tone,” the necklace is formed from two different rough stones, but so artfully do they segue that it is all but impossible to determine quite where one begins and the other ends.

Claude Monetised: Impressionist bridge landscape sets new auction record

Few rail commuters trundling into one of London’s busiest stations late last year would have had any notion that 5,600 kilometres away, in a far-off New York sales room, the very structure that was bearing their weight had excited an intense bidding war. To be fair, it was not the 19^th century bridge itself that was exciting collectors but rather a rare chance to own a famous Impressionist depiction of it, painted by one of the grand masters of this hugely influential movement – Claude Monet –at some point between 1899 and 1901.

The artist, temporarily residing in London, was beguiled by the structure and its interplay with the heavy urban fog of the day and it became the subject of no less than 37 of his works. Today, many fine examples of his Charing Cross Bridge series grace the walls of some of the world’s leading art repositories, with very few ever offered for sale – indeed, prior the New York auction, there had been no opportunity to purchase one for nearly 20 years, which is probably why it went for US$27.6 million, exceeding its reserve by more than $7 million.

Lost Art: Rare Buddhist relic fetches top dollar at auction

An 11th-century Nepalese Buddhist figure that was initially purchased by a lucky collector for just US$1,000, sold at the recent Bonhams Images of Devotion auction for a staggering HK$2.75 million – 350 times its initial price. But surprisingly, this wasn’t to be the event’s star performer. That particular accolade went to A Schist Figure of Buddha, a beautiful third-century relic crafted from schist, a coarse-grained, layered metamorphic rock.

The almost pristinely preserved statue, which stands 122cm tall, was crafted in the ancient region of Gandhāra, now known as Peshawar, a part of modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. Thanks to its unique location at the crossroads between East and West, Gandhāran artisans were renowned for creating Asian religious icons in an unusual Greco-Roman style.

It is precisely this unique influence that informs A Schist Figure of Buddha and sets it apart from the more typical statues of Buddha found across Asia. Add to this the fact that it also stands as a testament to the early spread of Buddhist art, and its final hammer price – a whopping HK$9.17 million – seems more than justified.

Pink Pride: Fancy pink diamond shines bright at Sotheby’s auction

There’s no denying that there’s something both alluringly mystical and enticingly feminine about coloured diamonds, with their crystalline structure and vibrant sparkle ensuring that any passing gaze is snared by their presence. There is one special type of these precious gemstones, though, that has fired the imagination of haute joaillerie enthusiasts the world over recently – the rarified pink diamond.

Any doubters need look no further than the recent Magnificent Jewels and Jadeite Sale held by auction house Sotheby’s last month, where an exquisite 10.64-carat pink diamond ring was the star of the show, fetching nearly US$19.9 million and outshining far larger stones – an Anna Hu necklace set with a 100-carat yellow diamond and an 80.88-carat emerald-cut white diamond, to name but two.

To experts, the final hammer price came as no surprise. After all, not only is it Internally Flawless, it also boasts a uniquely pinkish-purple colouring. What’s more, given that just four percent of all diamonds are of the pink variety, and that just one percent of those rarities are certified by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA) as being over 10 carats, its superior performance was pretty much assured from the start.

Double Act: Two Records in One Day for Nara Yoshitomo

To say that Nara Yoshitomo had a triumphant start to October would be putting things mildly. After all, the acclaimed Japanese artist smashed all expectations when his works broke records back to back during Hong Kong’s auction week.

The first work to set a new record was Not Everything but/ Green House, a 3D art installation sold by Poly Auction Hong Kong. Standing proudly at 6m high, the large-scale Green House fetched a final price of HK$40.12 million, becoming Nara’s most expensive artwork ever sold.

But that record lasted for mere hours only, with his Knife Behind Back painting selling at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale for a staggering HK$195.7 million in the same afternoon. Measuring a gargantuan 234cm x 208cm, the large artwork was created in 2000, the year Nara returned to his homeland after living in Germany for 12 years. Not only did this sale beat his Poly Auction performance nearly five-fold, it simultaneously conferred on Nara the accolade of being the most expensive Japanese artist in the world. Not a bad day’s work, indeed.

Vintage Treasures: Exploring The Time Machine @ Museum Concept

Imagine losing yourself in the wonders of bygone eras, surrounded by the allure of beautiful antique pieces that evoke a heady sense of nostalgia. That is exactly what The Time Machine at Museum Concept, the interior decorations showroom that specialises in antiques and vintage furniture pieces, offers to discerning collectors and high-end home owners.

For the uninitiated, Museum Concept was established 20 years ago by Christian Pilard, a self-professed lover of vintage collectibles. Boasting a capacious 2,000sq.ft showroom – replete with a 1,400sq.ft terrace – in Chai Wan, this unique venue offers interior designers, architects and collectors alike the chance to find beautiful and often one-of-a-kind retro pieces ranging from early 20th-century industrial furniture and decorations to prehistoric fossils and much more besides.

Beyond just individual creations though, Museum Concept also offers a unique Room of Dreams experience. Here, the focus is not just on one-off designs, but on combining individual pieces to present a cohesive theme, be it an underwater paradise, a prehistoric jungle or the royal palace fit for any princess-to-be.

So whether you’ve got your heart set on accentuating your abode with a period-accurate wine rack or you dream of transforming your home into an homage to times gone by, a perusal of the stunning objets at Museum Concept is well worth a visit.

The Time Machine @ Museum Concept
Address: 302-310 Honour Industrial Centre, 6 Sun Yip St, Chai Wan
Tel: (852) 2513 5930
Email: concept@vol.net

Royal Shine: Mughal treasure revealed at Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence auction

As the second-most-valuable private jewellery collection ever to go under the gavel, Christie’s Maharajas & Mughal Magnificence auction, held earlier this summer in New York, fetched a staggering US$109 million in total. While the gem-studded event certainly featured some truly remarkable haute joaillerie designs, one particular item deserves special mention – The Mirror of Paradise diamond ring.

While its third appearance on the auction block saw it fail to meet its pre-sale estimate of US$7-10 million, it still fetched a wholly respectable sum of US$6.52 million, thanks in no small part to the gargantuan gem that fronts this Mughal-era platinum creation.

Weighing in at 52.58 carats, the baguette-cut, D-colour, Internally Flawless, Type IIa white diamond gracing its fascia was mined in southern India’s renowned Golconda region. Golconda mines bear the unique distinction of producing diamonds without any nitrogen, a characteristic that imbues its precious stones with superb luminosity and impeccable purity. So sought-after are these gemstones that its several of its other products have become world-famous in their own right, including the Koh-i-Noor, which now languishes in the British crown jewels collection, and the Hope Diamond, now on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC.