This Arizona auciton isn't as lavish as the one of million dollar homes I covered a few weeks back but it's another real estate discount. Trammell Crow Residential has announced the auction of the Quarter Condominium Residences at Westgate City Center in Glendale, Arizona. Up for purchase are 35 two and three-bedroom townhouses. The Quarter at Westgate City Center has two resort-style swimming pools and heated spas, shaded ramadas with natural gas grills and a fitness center. A clubhouse for residents includes a kitchen, custom-designed indoor/outdoor fireplace, WiFi access, and a four-panel flat-screen TV wall.

The townhouses are part of the $1.5 billion Westgate City Center which will have 6.5 million square feet of commercial, retail, hotel and residential space including access to NFL and NHL games at two arenas, an AMC Westgate 20 Theatre, and restaurants like Bar Louie and Fox Sports Grill. The auction will take place on Sat., June 7 at 1:00 p.m. at the JW Marriott at Desert Ridge, located at 5350 East Marriott Dr., Phoenix, Arizona. Minimum bids for the townhouses available at auction will start at $195,000, which is approximately 35 percent below the highest previous asking price Two-bedroom townhomes had previous asking prices of up to $485,321, and three-bedroom townhomes had previous asking prices of up to $552,520.

Should you be able to sell the love letters from a famous ex? Joe Montana doesn't think so. The NFL football great has sued his ex-wife Kim Moses and Heritage Auction over the sale of love letters and other memorabilia dating back to his college days at Notre Dame. Montana says that the items which were sold at Heritage on May 3, violated his copyright and privacy rights. The items sold include the couple's marriage certificate, her bridal veil, Montana's college I.D. card and a lot of personal letters and cards full of all sorts of intimate details. Montana is seeking damages in excess of $75,000 and the lawsuit says that Moses obtained some of the items without his consent after they were divorced (the couple married in 1974 and divorced less than three years later). Whether or not it is legal remains to be seen but it does show questionable taste to auction off one's college love letters to the highest bidder.

As my colleague, J.P.S. mentioned when talking about an upcoming Christie's contemporary art auction, the economy may be sluggish but we don't think the art market is headed for a crash quite yet. Proof of that could be sen yesterday when Christie's auctioned off "Le Pont du chemin de fer a Argenteuil" a painting of a bridge by Impressionist Claude Monet. The painting brought in $41.181 million, setting a new record for the popular French artist and besting the estimate of $35 million to $40 million. The previous record for a Monet painting, $36.5 million for his 1904 "Nympheas," was set just last year. No word on who the buyer and seller are.

[Thanks, Rob!]

The wonderful thing about vintage jewelry is the history that comes with it. The intricate piece shown here is Empress Eugénie's brooch which was made in 1855 by the Parisian jeweler François Kramer for the French Empress. The brooch was set to be part of the Christie's Eye of a Connoisseur sale which was halted at the last minute due to a court order and a complicated situation involving Fred Leighton owner, Ralph Esmerian and a few outstanding loans from Merrill Lynch. Esmerian was having trouble paying his debts and had to surrender the collateral, his collection. Merrill Lynch tried to cash in the jewels at a Christie's auction in New York but Esmerian was able to block the sale although he had to declare bankruptcy in the process and will sell the pieces privately.

The brooch had a pre-sales estimate of $4 million to $6 million but the Louvre paid close to $11 million, eager to get back a piece of the crown jewels. The brooch was first auctioned off in 1887 when the French government decided the property of French queens and kings would be sold to the highest bidder. The jeweler Emile Schlesinger bought the piece which was originally meant to be a belt buckle and was later turned into a stomacher: a pin that extends from the chest to the waist. Schlesinger bought the piece for Mrs. William Astor and remained in the Astor family for more than 100 years. The Astors were also, for a time, a type of American royalty so this beautiful piece acquired an additional worthy provenance.

Would the piece have been worth less without the history? A piece like this is just the sum of its parts, stones and metal. But it is also so much more, craftsmanship and history and that history was what the Louvre was willing to pay for.

Attention champagne and wine collectors: on April 25th at 6pm at Cru Restaurant on Fifth Street in New York there's going to be an auction of vintage Champagne and rare wines dating back as far as the 1800s. The bottles are from the collection of real estate collector Robert Rosania and will include names like Krug, Dom Perignon, Bollinger, Cristal, and Roederer to name just a few. The total collection going up for auction includes 1,346 bottles, 303 magnums, and 11 jeros of Champagne. No word on why Rosania is looking to sell these valuables other than he's looking to "share these discoveries with others."

If you're looking to plan a trip out of town, maybe even a different country, but are interested in keeping it an eco-friendly affair then check out the 1st Annual Sustainable Travel Auction Fundraiser. From now until April 20th, you can bid to win. Sustainable tourism doesn't mean you have to stay somewhere in the bush without any amenities. Luxury can be green too! From Nepal to Morroco, Jackson Hole to Alaska, the offerings are diverse and include unique accommodations and packages. Some even involve volunteering -- vacation with a purpose makes for a great family getaway.

[via Travmedia]

Our latest Big Giver is Wall Street bond manager, Bill Gross, or as I like to fondly call him, the Philanthropic Philatelist, will offer the Scandinavia portion of his extensive, international stamp collection in a public auction which is conservatively estimated to bring over $1 million. Proceeds from the collection's sale will be donated by Sue and Bill Gross to the Millennium Villages Project at the Earth Institute at Columbia University. The Spink Shreves Galleries of New York City and Dallas will conduct the sale in New York City on May 16, 2008.

The collection has 110 rare and even several one-of-a-kind 19th and early 20th century Scandinavian stamps including an unusual printing 152 years ago of Finland's first postage stamps that shows adjoining images that are upside down to each other, a peculiar placement known as tête-bêche. Charles Shreve of Spink Shreves Galleries says that the piece, a mint condition block of four stamps containing two pair of 10 kopek denomination stamps, the first stamps of Finland from 1856, is one of only three known and estimated to sell for $100,000 to $150,000; however, Shreve expects the winning bid will be even higher.

This isn't the Gross's first shot at stamp philanthropy, the Great Britain portion of his stamp collection was sold through Spink Shreves Galleries in June 2007, and he and his wife, Sue, donated the entire $9.1 million auction proceeds to charity.

The Millennium Villages Project is working to create health, education, agriculture and infrastructure programs to help some of the poorest people throughout the African continent through simple concrete means such as bed nets to fight malaria, seeds and fertilizer to increase food production, the building of schools and clinics, and safe water. The stamps will be displayed for potential bidders at the Spink Galleries in London, England, May 5 – 7, and at the New York City offices of the auction house, May 9 – 12 and May 15.

The highly anticipated 72.22 carat "Perfect Pear" diamond was withdrawn from the Sotheby's Hong Kong auction on April 10th after the final bid failed to reach the reserve price. Originally the stone was expected to sell for upwards of $13 million but the highest bid maxed out at only $9.4 million. That didn't seem to dampen interest, however, as within just a few hours of the auction closing the stone was sold to a private buyer for an undisclosed amount.

Experts say the bidding prices were likely lower than expected due to confusion over the exchange rate of different currencies. Hm, does that mean they got their $13 million after all? Seems like people spending that much money would have a handle on that kind of thing.

Jenna Jameson's bright yellow 2002 Lamborghini Murcielago is currently up for sale on eBay. It has a 6 speed V12 6.2 engine with less than 12,000 miles on it, plus a few nice personalized touches like an aftermarket exhaust system and a touchscreen stereo. It's a sweet looking car and sounds really fun to drive, although I admit I wouldn't be too crazy to sit in the same seat as a famous porn star! But that's just me -- I'm sure it's a great celebrity investment. The auction is ending pretty quick so you gotta get moving if you want in on this, it's currently at $182,900 with only 3 bids.

Via Jalopnik

This gorgeous pink diamond is just one of a massive collection of rare and valuable jewels called the "Eye of the Connoisseur" collection that is scheduled to go up for auction at Christie's on April 15th. Of the 115 pieces the most outstanding is this ring, featuring a 14.23 carat rectangular-cut fancy intense pink diamond set on a micro pavé-set pink diamond hoop set in 18k rose gold. Some are calling it the most important pink diamond ever to be offered up at auction. Its value is estimated at $10-$15 million.

Some of the jewels in the collection date back to the 17th century, and experts expect the auction to break more than a few records. See the whole collection here, or I picked out some of my favorites for the gallery below.

Louis Kahn only designed 3 major architectural homes in his career and one of them, the Escherick House (named after the woman for whom it was built, Margaret Escherick) is up for auction. Its address is in Philadelphia and according to some it's his best residential creation and has "mature style" and a "warm and human quality" to the interior (and I tend to agree).

So the house will be sold, but unlike most houses its price will not only reflect the local regular real estate market but also the art market. Valued at $2 million only about half of that is unbiased structural and land values -- the rest is all artistic and historical sentiment.

Whenever a celebrity tries to sell something expensive on eBay there's always speculation as to motives, but here's a case where it's pretty obvious what the deal is: music producer Scott Storch is short on cash. He's selling his yacht, called "Tiffany," on eBay for well under its $20 million value (per Rolling Stone magazine) because apparently he can't afford to keep it anymore. As of right now it's going for just under $1,000,000. What a deal.

I'm no eBaying expert but I'm not sure it's such a great sales technique to display in big bold letters "THE BOAT IS BEING SOLD UNDER DISTRESS ,OWNER BOUGHT HER AND NOW GOT SHORT ON MONEY." Seems more than a little on the tacky side, and hardly inspires the celebrity "cool" factor that might help it sell for more.

UPDATE: Bidding has ended at $1,000,101, that's a fair amount of cash but not enough to meet the reserve, looks like Storch is going to have to try again.

A diamond that could fill a tablespoon is the latest object of desire for gem buyers. The 72.22 carat stone comes with naming rights and is expected to bring in up to $13 million when it goes up for sale on April 10 at Sotheby's Hong Kong. Unlike some other larger stones where cut has to be sacrificed for size, this D-color, flawless gem is a perfect pear shape.

Donna Karan is doing a little spring cleaning, which means a huge warehouse sale of all kinds of things she's been hoarding over the years. The sale will take place on March 13th and 14th in New York City at the Stephen Weiss Studio, and profits from the 2,000+ items will support different charities through Donna Karan's Urban Zen program.

In addition to all kinds of shoes, handbags, jewelry, and couture gowns Karan has decided to sell a black and white gown worn by Barbara Streisand, several vintage pieces she found inspiring, and a few creations from her first collection. She was quoted as saying things were "out of control" and that she plans to clear some things out on a yearly basis from now on.

Parties aren't easy on fashion. This past September Kate Moss wore a vintage Thirties Christian Dior gown to a party at the Victoria & Albert Museum in celebration of a new Dior exhibit, and although the dress wasn't exactly in new condition when she first put it on by the time the night was over it was practically in shreds. Somebody stepped on the satin at one point, causing a rip to appear up on the shoulder, and later in the evening a huge tear appeared across the back and another one almost directly over her butt.

Kate won't be wearing the dress again (for obvious reasons) but instead has donated it to the charity Cancer Research UK. It's one of many dresses donated by celebrities, other famous names including Dita Von Teese, Kelly Osbourne, Meg Mathews, Peaches Geldorf, and Lily Allen. Half the items will be auctioned off on The James Brown eBay store (starting Friday) and half will be on display and available for bidding at the Cancer Research UK shop in Marylebone High Street at the end of this week.