Always dreaming of being little Charlie at Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory?
Well, this dream can be real now!
In Viana do Castelo, a lovely city close to Porto is a place that must be a chocolate lover’s dream come true. It is the old Avianense Chocolate Factory.
The Factory has been converted into a beautifully decorated hotel, restaurant an museum
Signs of the chocolate experience abound in the building design. Brickwork resembles chocolate bar squares, and thick, goo-y liquid seems to ooze from ceilings and walls.
A century old building, where chocolate was once produced and from where a sweet aroma used to emerge all over the city, is today a newly restored building that keeps its history and memories alive, but with a new purpose.
Each room holds a unique surprise, providing guests with a truly original accommodation experience! Carefully designed with a unique theme and decoration to allow customers to plunge into a very special world ‘ the cocoa and chocolate world’.
Christie’s Jewelry Achieves Record $754.7 Million in 2014
The highest result ever for jewelry at auction
A year-on-year increase of 11%
9 new world auction records established
21 years of global market leadership
149 jewels sold above $1 million
72 jewels sold above $2 million
24 jewels sold above $5 million
7 jewels sold above $10 million
THE WINSTON BLUE A pear- shaped Fancy Vivid Blue Flawless Diamond of 13.22 carats $23,795,372
New York / London / Hong Kong – As part of its year-end figures announcement, Christie’s Jewelry reports a record total of $754.7 million (£460.2 million) in 2014 – the highest annual result ever achieved for jewelry at any auction house. The tally represents a year-on-year increase of 11% (7% in £), over Christie’s 2013 total of $678 million. Upon orchestrating the sale of The Winston Blue (illustrated above) and The Blue Belle of Asia – the most valuable sapphire ever sold at auction – Christie’s Geneva led the company’s jewelry sales with $304.4 million total.
WORLD AUCTION RECORD HIGHLIGHTS
The November 11 auction of Magnificent Jewels at Christie’s Geneva led the year in gemstones with the sale of The Blue Belle of Asia which realized $17,295,796. The cushion-shaped Ceylon sapphire of 392.52 carats now holds the record for the most valuable sapphire ever sold at auction. Further highlights within this record breaking auction included a gold, diamond, and green garnet ‘Parrot Tulip’ bangle, by JAR (illustrated left) which sold for $3,595,853 against a pre-sale estimate of $210,000 – 310,000 to become the second highest price for a jewel by JAR. In the same sale, a pair of natural pearl and diamond ear pendants realized a world record price of $3,481,601 (illustrated right).
TOP TEN JEWELS SOLD AT CHRISTIE’S IN 2014
On May 14, Christie’s Geneva offered The Winston Blue, which became the top jewel of 2014 for Christie’s Jewelry. Selling at $23,795,372 or $1,799,953 per carat, this flawless Fancy Vivid Blue diamond of 13.22 carats was acquired by Harry Winston.
More top jewels sold at Christie’s in 2014:
A pair of pear ‐ shaped D ‐ color Flawless diamond ear pendants of 25.49 and 25.31 carats WORLD AUCTION RECORD PRICE FOR A PAIR OF DIAMOND EAR PENDANTS $ 9,740,736
IMPORTANT PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
Christie’s saw landmark results for important private collections in 2014. The top three were, A Passion for Jewels – The Collection of a European Gentleman (Geneva, May 2014), Property from the Collection of Riki and Jerome Shaw (New York, April 2014), and Property Formerly in the Collection of Baroness Edouard de Rothschild (Geneva, November 2014). All three realized a combined total in excess of $48 million and were each 100% sold.
ECOMMERCE JEWELRY IN 2014
eCommerce Jewelry has grown significantly at Christie’s worldwide in 2014 with over twice as many sales as 2013 and over 430 jewels sold online this year. There was active participation with bidders from over 29 countries and buyers from over 21 countries, most notably from the China, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States. The top lot of the year was a sapphire and diamond ‘Sutra’ bracelet and ‘Power’ ring, by Diane von Furstenberg for H. Stern (illustrated left) selling for $29,625 in the Spring Jewels online-only auction based out of South Kensignton. Additional highlights include a suite of sapphire and diamond jewelry which realized $22,575 in Statement Jewels from Hong Kong and a diamond ring which achieved $22,500 in Brilliant Jewels in New York.
PRIVATE SALES
Private Sales contributed to Christie’s success in 2014 – a trend that is expected to continue throughout 2015. This channel, led by International Director Julien-Vincent Brunie, is tailored to clients who prefer to buy or sell outside the fixed auction calendar and to those seeking the rarest of gemstones and jewels.
SPRING 2015 JEWELRY AUCTION CALENDAR
Christie’s host 24 jewelry auctions a year in Geneva, Hong Kong, London, New York, and Paris. Early highlights of the Magnificent Jewels auctions in New York and Geneva sales will be announced in the coming weeks
For the complete press release in PDF, please click here.
Last year in November, the Wall Street Journal wrote a lovely article about spending the weekend in Porto. We would like to share and highlight some of the nice areas with you that were mentionned in this article.
The Yeatman hotel, a Luxury Spa Wine hotel is one of the anchor hotels in Porto. Wash the city off in the beautiful Spa, relax in the gorgeous rooms and enjoy the great views.
Hotelroom at the Yeatman Hotel in Porto
The Cristal Palace Gardens, is a beautifully landscaped park, dominated by a huge domed pavilion built in 1956 which replaced the 19th century iron-and-glass “Crystal Palace.” Today’s pavilion serves as a venue for concerts and sporting events.
It is surrounded by a lake, flowerbeds, and roaming peacocks, all overlooking the Douro River, of which there are superb views. There is also a multimedia library, an auditorium, a cafeteria, and the Romantic Museum.
Across the street from the park entrance is the gateway to the city’s art galleries district (Rua Miguel Bombarda has the largest number).
Plenty of galleries in this lovely street in Porto
This world-class museum displays cutting-edge international contemporary art in a striking minimalist building by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Alvaro Siza Vieira.
Like the Guggenheim, there is no collection permanently on display, with temporary exhibitions taking up the entire space, as well as that of the separate “Casa de Serralves,” a pink Art Deco construction located in the surrounding formal gardens (which are magnificent and worth a visit in their own right).
From 30th January 2015 to 3rd of May 2015 the Museum is to present the work of the Polish theorist, architect and urban planner Oskar Hansen (1922-2005) for the first time in Portugal, in the exhibition “Oskar Hansen: Open Form”.
This exhibition traces the development of his Open Form theory, from its origins in architectural projects to its application in films, visual games and performance-based practices implemented by him and other artists.
Click here for information about the exhibition and the Museum.
Microsoft has recently launched its HoloLens. A virtual reality, augmented reality, Google Glass hybrid that makes use of holograms for a totally immersive experience. This is something completely different it can help potential buyers into visualizing what their new home would look like when it would be decorated in their own style and taste.
Virtual real estate – easy to see what your new property will look like in your own style.
Use holograms to visualize how something will look in the physical world whether it’s a new piece of furniture in your home, a toy for your kids, or a new creation for work. HoloStudio will even let you turn your holograms into physical objects with 3D print compatibility.
Virtual real estate viewing
Like Google Glass and virtual reality systems before it, HoloLens relies on a headset, and this is used to overlay holographic objects onto physical objects in the real world. Like the idea of a massive monitor filling your living room wall? Rather than splashing out on a colossal screen, HoloLens could make it appear as though you have the screen of your dreams.
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