DUBAI, United Arab Emirates: A death in the Emirates royal family postponed the auction of the largest pearl on the world market, just hours before the bidding was to start Thursday.
According to the organizers of the auction, the news that Sheik Saeed Bin Nahyan Bin Mubarak al Nahyan ? son of the Emirates' education and science minister Sheik Nahyan bin Mubarak al Nahyan ? had died in a car crash on Tuesday led to the postponement.
A new date for the event was not immediately scheduled, said Paul Fletcher, manager of the Dubai-based Lifestyle Auctions. The 800-year-old pearl, whose illustrious owners included Chinese emperors, Persian kings, the grandson of Genghis Khan, and the famous Venetian adventurer Marco Polo, was expected to fetch up to US$8 million (?5.9 million).
Auction proceeds were supposed to help rehabilitate the pearl trade in Abu Dhabi and the Gulf region, where a century ago most people lived of treasures hidden in the oyster beds of the deep sea.
"The organizers felt it was not appropriate to celebrate a revival of the pearl trade at the time of mourning in the royal family and in the Emirates," Fletcher said.
The 575-carat, natural saltwater pearl known as the Arco Valley Pearl, was brought to Abu Dhabi less than two months ago by Khaled al-Sayegh, a jeweler and chairman of the auction's organizing committee. He said the pearl had been privately owned but declined to reveal previous owner's name.
Although biggest on sale, the Arco Valley pearl is not the largest in size, a title that belongs to the 9.45 inch (24 centimeter) Pearl of Allah, housed in a museum in the Philippines.
