Posted: Tuesday, June 01, 2004
Reproduced courtesy of Cigar Aficionado http://www.cigaraficinado.com
By Mark Weissenberger and James Suckling
Following nearly two years of a decline in bids,
buyers came out in force at a May 20 cigar auction in London when
Christie's King Street earned more than $272,000 selling 348 lots of
cigars, including many rare boxes of Cuban Davidoffs, Dunhills and
pre-Embargo cigars selling for extremely high prices.
According to Brian Ebbesen, senior cigar specialist for Christie's, buyers from the Far East, particularly China and Japan, pushed cigar prices back to levels last seen in 2001 and 2002. "A few of our old buyers from the Far East seemed to be back, and some new ones also appeared," he said. "We had great prices for many lots despite the relatively low total." The cigars were auctioned during the third session, and there was no shortage of aged Havanas in fine condition from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Buyers were not only present from the Far East, but also Britain and the rest of Europe as well as the United States. "There were lots of bidders in the room, and on the phone as well as commissioned bids," said Mitchell Orchant, managing director of C. Gars Ltd., a London-based cigar merchant specializing in vintage smokes. He was one of the biggest buyers in the auction room. "Everything sold well except for recent stuff. We haven't seen prices like this for a couple of years." |
| "The selection was very good in the sale, but prices
were much higher than I expected, so I did not buy as many cigars as I
hoped," said one American cigar collector from Chicago, who buys regularly
at auction and in Havana. "The prices were a very strong indeed. Davidoffs
and Dunhills brought a lot of money. And rare robustos were strong -- a
box of Dunhill Cabinetta brought £5,400 and Flor De Cano Short Churchills
went for £6,000! They were both well above what they were expected to
fetch in the sale."
Here are some of the other highlights of the sale. |
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