Titanic: Latest Update Information
The following is intended to be of assistance to those wishing to bid.
PLEASE NOTE: Bids are due now. Please be aware that this is not a traditional auction,
but rather one where bids must be submitted in advance. Those bids are due now.
Please contact Guernsey's for all the details.
The Titanic Collection consists of all of the more than 5,500 artifacts recovered from the wreck site along with a substantial body of Intellectual Property. If you would like to receive a packet containing additional information about the Intellectual Property included in the Collection, an access code to a web site where you can view a 10-minute video about the Titanic Collection, and the extensive Inventory of artifacts, please contact Guernsey's at your soonest convenience so that we may email that packet to you.
As mentioned above, the Titanic Collection we are selling includes every one of the approximately 5,500 artifacts recovered from the debris field surrounding and extending outwards from the wreck of the Titanic. These artifacts were recovered during seven expeditions to the site that took place from 1987 through 2004. Additional expeditions to the site have taken place but were for the purposes of photographing and mapping the site (as opposed to further recovery of artifacts.) The dives to the wreck site were extremely dangerous and costly, and required multi-national efforts and state-of-the-art equipment.
The range of artifacts is nothing short of extraordinary. For example, there are approximately one hundred pieces of jewelry. Other categories include porcelain from each of the Titanic's three classes, glass, metal (from the ship's binnacle and steering wheel stand to binoculars and silverware), wood, fabric and paper. Currently, about half of the Collection is in storage in Atlanta, Georgia here in the U.S., while the other half is being displayed in six exhibitions in various places around the world. I recently visited the Titanic Exhibition in Las Vegas and it is truly wonderful. Among the many items on display there is the "Big Piece", a seventeen ton (34,000 lb) section of the Titanic's hull measuring approximately seven meters high by nine meters wide. It is complete with hundreds of rivets as well as portholes. Viewing it gives a true sense of the enormous forces that collided when the ship struck the iceberg. Naturally, all of the items from these exhibitions are part of the Collection and included with the purchase.
It should be noted that when the artifacts were first recovered from the sea floor, many were in fragile condition. In an effort to stabilize them, careful conservation methods were utilized by knowledgeable conservationists. As a result of those efforts, today the artifacts are stable and in a condition where their storage is no more demanding or difficult than any collection of valuable antiques might be.
The Titanic Collection also includes a substantial body of Intellectual Property that is described in the Opportunity Statement that follows in this transmission. This includes many hundreds of hours of underwater video footage of the undersea recovery of the artifacts, along with extensive three-dimensional mapping of the ship itself and the ocean floor encompassing the debris field. The video mapping of the Titanic is magnificent and allows for a viewer to take a virtual walk-through of the entire ship. Should you wish to get a more complete description of the Intellectual Property, including what rights the new owner will have in the future, I would recommend that you communicate with several people I can put you in touch with at Premier Exhibitions, the owner of the Collection.
Resolving any past claims of ownership, a United States Court confirmed that Premiere Exhibitions, the American company that oversaw the recovery effort and has carefully maintained the Titanic Collection for more than twenty five years is indeed its rightful owner. The Court agreed that if Premiere Exhibitions wanted to sell the Collection, it could do so. However, the Court has insisted that the new buyer follow certain rules - called "covenants" - regarding the Collection. Those covenants basically are as follows: 1. the Titanic Collection must be kept together. (In other words, individual artifacts cannot be sold one by one. If the new owner wishes to sell the Collection in the future, he must sell it as an entire collection. The reason for this is for the historic preservation of the Titanic Collection.) 2. The Collection has to be carefully taken care of. In other words, the artifacts have to be dealt with in a similar way that a museum would care for its objects. 3. At least a portion of the Collection must be available for the public to view. If the new owner wishes, this could be limited to just a small portion of the Collection, and the viewing can be at a museum or a commercial exhibition where the public pays for the viewing opportunity. Lastly, the Court has determined that it has the right to approve of the new owner to be assured that the new owner will abide by the covenants (listed above) that the Court set forth.
The AmountIn 2007, the U.S. Court asked that an Appraisal of the Titanic Collection be undertaken. Careful to employ only the most well-regarded appraisers, and under the watchful eye of the Court, an Appraisal was made. The appraised amount of the Collection was $189 million ($189,000,000). This Appraisal did not include much of the Intellectual Property which is also viewed to be quite valuable. Nevertheless, you can bid any amount you choose. Some have told us that they view this Appraisal as being too high, while others think just the opposite, i.e., that it is too low. Some have compared the worth of the Titanic Collection to the amounts recently fetched at auction for important works of art. They cite the fact that individual paintings have sold for more than $200 million and that it is their belief that the Titanic Collection is more valuable than any single painting or group of paintings. Indeed, many believe the Titanic Collection to be the most extraordinary collection of anything on earth! In any case, again allow us to remind you that bids are due now. Please contact Guernsey's for more information.
The Bidding ProcessBecause the Court has determined that it has the right to approve of the new owner (see above), we will not be conducting the typical type auction that we and others are known for holding. What we will be doing is as follows: Interested bidders must submit their bids in writing to Guernsey's immediately. The bids will be reviewed and the new owner will be determined. Following this process - and in accordance with the wishes of the new owner - we are prepared to introduce the new owner to the world. (Conversely, should the new owner wish to remain anonymous, so be it.)
ViewingWe are prepared to assist you in any way we are capable of. Allow us to suggest that a wonderful place in which to view portions of the Collection is at the current display in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it is installed in the Luxor Hotel. (There are 350 artifacts there from the Collection of over 5,500 items.) if you haven't already seen the Collection there, you might find it extraordinary (as we did). In any case, hopefully you will be able to get back to us at your soonest convenience so that we can discuss all the possibilities. On behalf of Guernsey's and Premiere Exhibitions, we thank you for your interest in possibly becoming the future owner of the extraordinary Titanic Collection.
Interested bidders should review the Terms & Conditions, including information about the reduced buyer's premium in effect, as well as the Covenants & Conditions for this sale.