Among all the other items displayed for auction by the Antiquorum's recent auction of Important Collectors' Wristwatches, Pocket Watches and Clocks, a pocket watch belonging to Mahatma Gandhi was the highlight of all the other objects.

In addition to the Gandhi's pocket watch there were few other personal belongings of his like pair of sandals, glasses, bowl and thali. The sale which was conducted on March 4-5 realized an amount of $8,707,724, with $2,096,000 of that from the sale of Gandhi's pocket watch.

The auction which was conducted comprises of all the belongings of the spiritual and political leader of India. The event was closely observed by all the collectors as well as the supporters of Gandhi worldwide. Eventually a prominent Indian businessman took over the race. He won all the items which belonged to Gandhi and brought the pride home. It was said that Vijay Mallya who was representing India came with an intension of bringing all the items back to India for permanent public display.

A total of 500 bidders were present at the event apart from the online and bidders over the phone. They were not only bidding for Gandhi’s items but also a number of noteworthy timepieces like an historically important piece the "Kennedy Onassis" watch. A timepiece which belonged to the President John F. Kennedy and also worn by the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. The watch, the only known item connecting JFK, Onassis and Jacqueline Kennedy, fetched $120,000.

Another timepiece which is worth mentioning is the Patek Philippe Henry Grave's unique platinum minute repeater, which sold for $630,000. The watch belonged to the late Henry Graves Jr., who inspired Patek Philippe to create some of its most complicated watches to date.

Few other Patek Philippe models achieved good results as well, including the "Giuseppe Bonanno," a 1950s model whose namesake was thought to be the inspiration for the character of Vito Corleone in Mario Puzo's The Godfather. The timepiece sold for $36,000 and drew considerable attention from collectors and Godfather fans.

Patek's Ref. 5016 in yellow gold (lot 536) made $494,000, while Ref. 5020, the "TV Watch," in white gold (lot 526) sold for $180,000. Also selling in the six figures were Ref. 3970 in white gold (lot 525), which attained $108,000, and the yellow gold "Celestial" wristwatch (lot 120), which achieved $186,000.

Audemars Piguet also attained exceptional results, with its "End of Days" timepiece (lot 435) selling for a remarkable price of $42,000. Cartier did well as well, with an Art deco desk alarm clock selling for $32,400 which is three times more than its pre-sale estimate.

Gold prices are increasing at rocket speed in India. There is no stop to the on-going increase in gold rates. Gold prices on Tuesday zoomed Rs.360 to a record high of Rs15,200 per 10 grams in Indian Bullion Market due to the impact of the downturn of global market and falling of Indian Rupee.

The yellow metal was always in demand and it increased its popularity as the investors at the international markets kept buying gold amid worsening global economic outlook, said Ranjan Mukherjee of Kolkata-based Shipra Gold.

Gold prices increased at a rate of 30 percent in the past three months. The gold at Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (MCX) was traded at around Rs15,200/10 grams for the month of April,the highest since the bourse began trading the metal in November 2003.

According to a report from the Bombay Bullion Association, the apex gold trade body in the country, the India’s gold import in February was zero and Imports in January slumped to about two tonnes from 24 tonnes a year ago, the association said.
Ranjan Mukherjee blamed the weak economy, high prices and the weak rupee for the downfall in the imports.

The new chief executive officer for De Beers Diamond Jewellers U.S. is Hamida Belkadi. The position was filled by Hamida which was vacant since 2007; the news was released by the company on Friday.

Hamida will be the new CEO effective immediately. De Beers has not had an official CEO for its U.S. operations since the departure of former CEO Alyce Alston at the end of March 2007.

Belkadi was a part of De Beers since 2005. She worked as vice president of sales and marketing and helped in establishing its U.S. operations. This was also the year De Beers opened retail stores in the United States, operating them through a partnership with LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton.

Following a short stint as acting CEO in 2007 after the departure of Alston, Belkadi was promoted to chief operating officer in July 2007, heading De Beers' U.S. operations.

Belkadi carries lots of experience in jewelry retailing. She had a past experience of around 18 years with Cartier where she held various senior positions.

The new President for California Jewelers Association (CJA) is being elected. The association has elected Teresa Saldivar, of Teresa's Jewelers in Santa Ana, as president for 2009.
 
She succeeds Lexi Kern Hirst, of Churchill Jewelers in Santa Barbara.
Stuart Benjamin, of Stuart Benjamin and Co. Jewelry Designs, San Diego as president-elect; James Orloff, of Orloff Jewelers, Fresno as first vice president; David Hayman, of David Hayman Jewellers, Yorba Linda as second vice president; and Allen Kessler, of Kessler Jewelers, Burbank, treasurer are among the other officers selected.

Rossana Aguilar, CJA Executive Director and CEO said, “We are pleased to announce that Teresa Saldivar of Teresa's Jewelers in Santa Ana has been elected as President of the California Jewelers Association in 2009. She is the first Latina to serve in this capacity and only the fourth woman in the CJA's 76-year history to serve as president of this prestigious association."  Rossana stated this in a media release.
"Our goal this year will be to provide even more cost-saving member benefits to our membership in order to help them run their businesses more efficiently,". Teresa Saldivar said to the media.
 
Saldivar comes from a good jewelry experience. She was a two-term president of the Downtown Santa Ana Business Association and is an active leader in numerous civic and philanthropic organizations in Orange County. She joined the CJA's board of directors in 1997 and was elected as an officer of the CJA in 2006. She also heads one of the leading jewelry stores in Santa Ana.
 
The CJA is a 1200 member association which is affiliated to Jewelers of America (JA), the national trade association for retail jewelers. The CJA and JA cater high ethical standards, promote professional business and leadership skills, and offers education, certification, marketing and cost-saving programs to the members so that they can increase their standards and profits.