’Diamonds are a girl's best friend’ trademark sold

4.6 k views | Posted October 30, 2018 | By Jeweller Staff

The trademark and website domain for the phrase “Diamonds are a girl's best friend” – made famous by Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes - has been sold for US$50,000 (AU$71,000).

Firestar Diamonds, one of fraudster Nirav Modi’s former companies, owned the intellectual property and sold its inventory and assets in late September, following its declaration of bankruptcy in February.

ABG Intermediate Holdings, which trades as Authentic Brands Group, purchased the legal rights to the “best friend” phrase which can be used in the US, Canada and European Union.

Court Records stated the company’s IP and assets sale totalled US$5.7 million (AU$8.1 m), with SimplexDiam purchasing US$1.9 million ($2.7 m) in inventory across 28 lots including diamond rings and wedding bands.

It has also been reported that Christie’s will auction Moon of Baroda diamond – worn by Monroe in the movie when she sang the iconic song – on 27 November.

The stone is a 24.04-carat pear-shaped fancy yellow diamond and is said to have a ‘rich history’ dating back hundreds of years.

Emerald ring breaks record

In other auction news, an emerald ring has fetched more than double its presale estimate and broken records at a Sotheby’s auction in New York.

The piece featured a 10.68-carat lozenge-shaped Colombian emerald shouldered by baguette diamonds which managed to sell for US$1.2 million (AU$1.7 m), far higher than its US$300,000-$500,000 estimate. The sale represented more than US$113,000 (AU$160,000) per-carat.

The emerald contributed to the record-breaking auction, which made the highest value of sales at a in history at a Fine Jewels auction, totalling US$11 million (AU$15.6 m) with 75 per cent of items sold.

Kendall Reed, head of Sotheby’s fine jewels division New York, stated: “We saw outstanding prices for white and fancy-coloured diamonds, especially pear-shaped stones — all of which outperformed their estimates.”

Two private collections at the auction achieved “white glove” status whereby every piece was sold, according to Sotheby’s.

The next jewellery auction will be the Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels sale in Geneva where the late Queen Marie Antoinette’s collection will be viewed for the first time.