Katie Warren/Business Insider
The auction was nothing like I'd expected.
- I went to a jewelry auction at Christie's auction house in New York City.
- More than $30 million worth of jewelry was sold, including a Van Cleef & Arpels retro zip necklace for $483,000 and a twin-stone fancy vivid blue diamond ring for $6.7 million.
- I thought the event would be boring, stuffy, and quiet - but it wasn't at all what I'd expected.
- The auction felt very casual and informal, with people wearing jeans and chatting and laughing with their friends.
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Christie's, the 250-year-old, world-famous auction house founded in London, sold $7 billion worth of jewelry, art, watches, and other luxury items last year.
I'd always wondered what it would be like to attend an auction at Christie's, so last week I headed to their New York City location at Rockefeller Center for the Magnificent Jewels auction, where $30.3 million worth of fine jewelry and accessories were sold. The most expensive item sold was a twin-stone fancy vivid blue diamond ring for $6.7 million.
Here's what it was like to attend an auction at the prestigious auction house in New York City.