How else would you expect giant auction house Sotheby’s to celebrate 50 years of Hip-Hop than with a one-of-a-kind custom ring worn by Tupac Shakur? The bling rocked by the cultural icon is estimated to fetch a bidding value of a whopping $300,000.In a similar vein, here are some of the most intriguing items—from game-worn jerseys by Kobe and LeBron to the world’s tiniest handbag—that have already been auctioned this year. Safe to say that the world’s elite had an interesting way of spending their money.
1. Kobe Bryant And Lebron James’ Game-worn Jerseys
The start of the year saw two iconic Basketball jerseys going under the hammer, including the one worn by the late Kobe Bryant in his 2007-08 MVP season. While James’ jersey was sold for $3.7 million, Bryant’s jersey fetched a fee of $5.8 million. Fans of the game might recognise the jersey from Game 2 of the Western Conference series when the basketball legend scored a 3-point shot.
Late last year in September, Sotheby’s also auctioned Michael Jordan’s 1998 “Last Dance” jersey for $10.1 million. In the same year, Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ jersey was sold for $9.3 million in London.
2. Princess Diana’s Dress
Yet another iconic piece of clothing to be sold this year was a purple ball gown of Princess Diana, for $604,800. As per reports, the gown was part of Edelstein’s 1989 Autumn collection and featured a deep aubergine silk velvet, along with a tulip-shaped stiffened skirt and three paste buttons at the back. Edelstein is also known for designing princess dresses between 1982 to 1993.
3. World’s Most Expensive Licence Plate
Shifting our focus to the opposite side of the globe, the world’s most expensive license plate was sold in Dubai for a staggering $15 million. The coveted P7 number plate surpassed the previous record set in 2008 when Abu Dhabi’s car number 1 fetched $14.2 million.
4. Michael Jordan’s ‘Last Dance’ Shoes
Jordan shoes have always fetched a pretty penny, but this particular pair worn by MJ might just take the cake. Earlier this year, Sotheby’s auctioned the Nike Air Jordan 13 sneaker worn during the 1998 NBA Finals (also known as “The Last Dance”) for $2.2 million. This was also the last year Jordan played for the Bulls, before moving to the Wizards.
5. World’s Tiniest Handbag
In a bid to riff on a certain French couture brand, a New York-based art collective called MSCHF auctioned the world’s tiniest handbag for $63,750. Inspired by LV’s OnTheGo tote collection, the “Microscopic Handbag” measures a mere 657 x 222 x 700 in size and is described as being “smaller than a grain of sea salt and can effortlessly pass through the eye of a needle”.
Image credits – Getty, Sotheby’s & Twitter
