Pen collector Mel Wilmore carried his passion for Montblanc writing instruments to another level. To protect his valuable collection, for example, he had a secret pen room, constructed in his estate. Next month in New York, the rare and valuable pens are coming out of wraps, as Bonhams sells what it’s calling the greatest single collection of Montblanc pens ever offered at auction. The top-rated lot is a 75th Anniversary Solid Gold Skeleton Fountain Pen and Watch set estimated at $60,000-$75,000.Other featured lots at the June 11th sale include a Charlie Chaplin Limited Edition 88 Fountain pen (est. $25,000-$35,000), a White House Limited Edition 43 Skeleton Fountain pen (est. $20,000-$30,000), and a Princess-Cut Diamond Creation Limited Edition 8 fountain pen (est. $15,000-$20,000).
Rarest Montblanc Pens At Bonhams
May 17, 2012
Aston Martin Sells For Record $4.95m
May 20, 2013Until this past weekend, the record for an Aston Martin at auction was the $4.6m paid for a DB5 with celebrity credentials, having seen use in “Goldfinger.” That price was eclipsed on Saturday, when a factory-restored 1960 DB4GT “Jet” Coupé sold for $4.95m at a Bonhams auction in the UK. Offered for the first time in 30 years, the unique car — the only GT with body by Bertone — has won various Concours d’Elegance awards, including ‘Best In Show’ at the Villa d’Este and 1st in the Italian Coachworks Class at Pebble Beach.
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Milton Berle’s Jokes Laugh To The Bank
May 8, 2013For $158,000 a bidder got Milton Berle’s library, including books and boxes of bound scripts and personal correspondence, but he didn’t get the comedian’s thousands of one-liners and jokes carefully catalogued over the decades. That file went for another $65,000 at Bonham’s Entertainment auction this week.
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1952 Vincent Black Shadow Rules Field At Bonhams
April 29, 2013Mechanical failures prevented a specially equipped Vincent Black Shadow from setting a new 24-hour speed record in 1952 at Monthéry in France, the race for which it had been created. Nothing stood in the restored ex-works bike’s way, however, at Bonhams International Motorcycle sale at Staffordshire, where it sold yesterday for $175,860. Another bike posting a solid result was a 1914 Indian Model F, formerly owned by screen icon Steve McQueen. A European telephone bidder claimed it forjust under $50,000, well above its $43,000 high estimate.
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Rising Value of Unrestored Cars
By Malcolm Welford, Vintage Car Specialist
