Auctioneer Julien fascinated with memorabilia
- By Zhang Rui
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E-mail China.org.cn, May 25, 2014
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Darren Julien (L), President and CEO of the Julien's Auctions, and Martin Nolan, Co-Owner of the auction house. [China.org.cn] |
A rising auction house boss told China.org.cn how much he loves entertainment and auctions, and that he believes Asia is a huge market.
Darren Julien, president and CEO of the Julien's Auctions, said he got into the business because of his love for auctions and the entertainment industry.
"I am from Indiana, which is a small farming community in the Midwest (USA)," he said. "I have always been an auctioneer, and I used to sell classic cars. I was more fascinated with entertainment memorabilia, so I took a job with Sotheby's in 1999 and they moved me to Hollywood to assist with celebrity collections."
Julien's Auctions held a California-based auction titled Hollywood Legends in April and the Music Icons, Legends and Rebels auction on Saturday, May 17 in New York. "New York is always a good market for us," Julien said, adding they had some amazing Michael Jackson items in the latter auction.
"My favorite is a red jacket made by Tompkins and Bush that Michael wore at a public appearance."
For Julien, – the best thing he ever sold was this iconic jacket – worn by Michael Jackson in the "Thriller music video" – for US$1.8 million. The auction house cleaned out Jackson's Neverland Ranch in 2009 before the singer's tragic death and was prepared to auction off all the treasures. When Jackson's lawyer intervened, however, Julien sent Jackson's items back to him.
"We will have another annual auction called Icons & Idols: Rock n' Roll in the fall/winter that will include MJ items," he said.
Recently, Julien's Auctions launched an exclusive sports memorabilia online auction for sports enthusiasts. Sports fans and collectors from around the world have the chance to bid on memorabilia until June 9. The vast array of memorabilia includes a historic collection of items from one of the world's largest and most comprehensive Muhammad Ali memorabilia collectors. In addition, fans have the rare opportunity to bid on Carmelo Anthony's 2004 Olympic Bronze medal, property from the life and career of Evander Holyfield and game-worn items and memorabilia from sports icons such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Babe Ruth, Jerry Rice, Wayne Gretzky, Pele, Andre Agassi and more. Several game-worn jerseys from basketball, baseball and football legends are also included in the exclusive online auction.
As for how to collect memorabilia, the auction CEO said Julien's Auctions is known as The Auction House To The Stars, "so celebrities and/or their estates often contact us," he revealed. "We are also contacted by people who worked for the various celebrities. Normally, we sell everything at no reserve so there is nothing left over. But we occasionally do accept reserves, and if they do not sell we either return them back to the consignor or place them in a future auction with a lower reserve."
Julien noted the auction house is continuing to grow and will probably open a gallery in London next. But China is not in near sight.
"We would love to start a division in China, but the government regulations make it very difficult for us," Julien said. "If we had the right partnership we would be more open to it because Asia is a huge market for us."
Business is business, but the man also has his own hobby.
"I love to collection celebrity passports. These are very personal items, and because of my love for travel it's something that is very important to me," he said.
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