Summary
22 October 2010
A new record for the highest price ever paid for a Barbie doll has been set at a charity auction in New York. The doll wore a pink diamond necklace and was sold for US$302,500.
Reporter:
Laura Trevelyan
Listen
Click to hear the report:
Report
In the packed auction room the bidding was brisk for lot 358, a Barbie doll quite unlike any you have ever seen before. This version of the all-American blonde toy was dressed in a black strapless evening dress, with a pink diamond necklace matching her pink peep-toe stiletto heels.
It was the diamonds which drove Barbie's price up to US$302,500. Who bought her? An anonymous bidder. The price was at the lower end of the estimates that Christie's, the auction house, had put.
The jewellery designer Stefano Canturi, who created this Barbie and her necklace, says investors are taking refuge in rare gems right now because of uncertain economic times. The prices of diamonds and coloured jewels have gone up 20% over the past year, according to the auction house, Christie's.
The proceeds from the sale of the bejewelled Barbie will go to Breast Cancer Research.
Laura Trevelyan, 大象传媒 News, New York
Listen
Click to hear the vocabulary:
Vocabulary
- packed
crowded or crammed with people
- bidding
offering a particular price (at an auction)
- brisk
quick or rapid
- lot
object being sold in auction
- strapless
dress without fabric going over the shoulders
- stiletto heels
shoes with high, narrow and pointed heels
- anonymous
unidentified or secret
- refuge
shelter from danger (or economic instability)
- gems
precious stones
- uncertain
unsure
