Bond sale raises thousands for charity
An Aston Martin used by Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace sold last night for £241,250 (€300,000) at a charity auction of James Bond memorabilia in London.
The car, estimated to sell for up to £150,000, was the most expensive of 11 lots being auctioned live by Christie's International, London, in front of an invitation-only VIP audience of 600 people.
The V12 DBS was bought by an unidentified bidder on the telephone.
All the 007-related material came direct from the archives of EON Productions. The live sale raised £752,050 (€936,200) from 11 lots.
Proceeds, including Christie's fees, were donated to a range of charities. Barnardo's will benefit from the sale of the Aston Martin.
The event marked Global James Bond Day and 50 years of Bond movies. The latest film, Skyfall, will be released next month.
Dame Judi Dench, who plays Bond’s spymaster boss, M, introduced one of the most hotly contested lots of the night: Craig’s blue trunks - with which he set temperatures rising in Casino Royale. “All I’m going to tell you is they’re unwashed,” she said.
The navy and powder blue trunks by La Perla, labelled GrigioPerla and made in Italy, sold for £44,450 (€55,400). The proceeds went to Women For Women.
The second-highest price of the evening was the £157,250 given for an Omega
Automatic Seamaster Professional Planet Ocean watch worn by Craig in Skyfall. It had been estimated at up to £8,000.
Former 007 Roger Moore was on the rostrum to sell the orchestral score for Skyfall. Signed by the singer Adele and co-writer Paul Epworth, it sold for £13,750.
A further 42 lots of Bond memorabilia are being offered by Christie's in an online sale ending on Monday. As of yesterday, that event had already raised a further £360,000, said Christie's.
The online lots include a belt with golden-bullet buckle worn by Christopher Lee as Scaramanga in The Man With the Golden Gun; a charcoal suit worn by Pierce Brosnan in The World Is Not Enough; and a pair of Tom Ford sunglasses worn by Craig in Quantum of Solace.
