An antique necklace made up of 1,888 pearls, that once belonged to Umm Kulthoum was sold Tuesday for more than $1 million at an auction in Dubai.
Christie’s Dubai branch said an anonymous buyer from the Middle East bought the nine-strand necklace that belonged to the singer for $1,385,000 – more than 10 times the price [...]

Christie’s fourth sale of International Modern & Contemporary Art, to be staged in Dubai on 30 April 2008, includes a carefully curated section of 30 works by some of the most exciting international and Western artists including Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana and Anish Kapoor, which span several important periods. With estimates ranging from $10,000 to [...]

A late 12th-century iron key to the Ka’aba in Makkah sold for £9.2mn ($18.1mn) with fees, about 20 times its estimated price, at Sotheby’s in London yesterday. it had been estimated to sell for £400,000 to £600,000.
The key, which is 37cms (15in) long, was formerly in a private collection in the Lebanon and dated from [...]

A selection of stunningly decorated horse and camel saddles from Persia, China and India will be sold on April 10 at Bonhams in the single owner Jacques Desenfans Collection of Arms and Armour from the Middle and Far East.
The saddles are small by today’s standard but with decoration that no modern saddle can hope [...]

The number plates auction last Saturday in Dubai raised Dh40.954 million ($11.15 million), setting a new record for the auctions.
Fierce bidding at the Jumeirah Beach Hotel lasted up to the last minute of the sale, where the coveted two, three, four and five-digit number plates in the categories E, F and G were sold.
Number plates [...]