VOA常速英语2008年-Sotheby's Fails to Sell Giant Diamond at Hong K

By Claudia Blume
Hong Kong
11 April 2008

The highly anticipated sale of the largest diamond ever to appear at an auction¹ in Asia has failed. But demand for Chinese art, expensive watches and other collectors' items was strong at auction house Sotheby's spring sales in Hong Kong. Claudia Blume reports.

It was the star lot of Sotheby's jewelry² auction at its annual spring sales in Hong Kong: a flawless, pear-shaped, 72-carat diamond, as big as a walnut³. It was the largest diamond of its kind ever on offer at an auction in Asia, and Sotheby's had hoped to sell it for as much as $13 million.

But the sale fell through Thursday night after the final bid failed to meet the reserve price. Sotheby's spokesman Matthew Weigman says there was confusion among overseas buyers who placed their bids by phone.

"Bidders⁴ from different countries had miscalculated the exchange rate and were uncertain of what they had would have to pay so they retracted⁵ their bids," he explained. "We are currently negotiating a private sale of the diamond."

Other parts of this week's auction were more successful, however. Sotheby's set a new world record for the sale of a modern watch. A platinum⁶ Patek Philippe wrist watch went for $1.5 million.

Demand for Chinese contemporary art remained strong, with Sotheby's achieving record sales of almost $52 million. The art auction's highlight was Zhang Xiaogang's oil painting "Bloodline: The big family No. 3", which was sold for more than $6 million to a Taiwanese collector.

Weigman says that for the first time, the auction house offered art from Southeast Asia in at the Hong Kong sale.

"What we discovered was that the Southeast Asian paintings category benefited very much from being in Hong Kong because people who were here to buy Chinese art saw the Southeast Asian paintings and began to bid on them," he said. "So we brought new buyers into the market for Southeast Asian and Vietnamese paintings."

The sale of Southeast Asian art achieved about  $8 million, exceeding forecasts.

1 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

2 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

3 walnut   

n.胡桃，胡桃木，胡桃色，茶色

参考例句：

• Walnut is a local specialty here.核桃是此地的土特产。
• The stool comes in several sizes in walnut or mahogany.凳子有几种尺寸，材质分胡桃木和红木两种。

4 bidders   

n.出价者，投标人( bidder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Bidders should proceed only if they intend on using a PayPal account to complete payment. Bidders的唯一形式，应继续只当他们在使用贝宝帐户，以完成付款打算。 来自互联网
• The other bidders for the contract complained that it had not been a fair contest. 其他竞标人抱怨说该合同的竞标不公平。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 retracted   

v.撤回或撤消( retract的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝执行或遵守；缩回；拉回

参考例句：

• He made a false confession which he later retracted. 他作了假供词，后来又翻供。
• A caddy retracted his statement. 一个球童收回了他的话。 来自辞典例句

6 platinum   

n.白金

参考例句：

• I'll give her a platinum ring.我打算送给她一枚白金戒指。
• Platinum exceeds gold in value.白金的价值高于黄金。