Perfume bottle racks up high bids at auction

Associated Press

November 27, 2006 05:43 pm

— LAMBERTVILLE, N.J. — A bottle of perfume that was originally purchased for $50 has been auctioned off for $216,000. And that doesn’t include the perfume itself.
An elderly woman who wanted to remain anonymous received the bottle of Tresor de la Mer from her husband in 1939. He had bought it at Saks Fifth Avenue store.
The woman, who is now in her 90s, held onto the empty bottle — designed by Renee Lalique — and the box it came in for years, before deciding to auction it at the Rago Arts and Auction Center on Nov. 17.
Ken Leach, a perfume bottle expert at the auction, told The Times of Trenton that only 50 of the Lalique bottles were made, and he only knows of another one still in existence.
Bidding on the perfume featured two telephone bidders rapidly increasing the price during the final two minutes. “Everybody was holding their breath,” Leach said. “I thought they were ready to drop out at $100,000, but they just kept going.”
The buyer also preferred to remain anonymous.