Umm Kalthoum is admittedly a legendary and internationally acknowledged artist and it is hard to put a price on such talent and such creativity. However, when one is presented with an item that once belonged to someone awe inspiring like Umm Kalthoum it is hard not to want to own it. An unknown UAE resident was put under the spell of Umm Kalthoum’s pearl necklace that was once presented to her by the late Sheikh Zayed and paid a hefty 5.1 million dirhams ($1.39 million) for it at a Dubai auction!

This amount is more than 10 times higher than the expected value of 293,600-400,000 dirhams! Obviously the necklace itself was nearly as beautiful as its old owner as it is made up of 1888 pearls and designed in an authentic 18th century style. The Christie’s auction of jewels and watches was held at the Emirates Towers Hotel and saw many more expensive sales but nothing like this one.

I cannot help but wonder what this bidder will do with the necklace!

By Karim