On-Again, Off-Again Christie’s Jewelry Sale Delayed Again

NEW YORK—Christie’s sale of 115 heirlooms from the family of jeweler Ralph O. Esmerian, scheduled to take place last night, has been delayed due to ongoing court proceedings. The auction house said in a statement last night that it is optimistic that the sale will take place this evening, April 16.

The auction was engineered by Esmerian creditor Merrill Lynch & Co., to whom Esmerian owes $185 million after defaulting on a loan on January 21, according to court papers.

Esmerian reportedly believes that the sale would earn far less than individual private sales and tried to block the sale. On April 14, a New York State appeals court seemed to grant his wish, though the ruling allowed further proceedings at a lower court.

On April 15, state Supreme Court Justice Helen Freedman ruled that the sale could go on, despite the appeals court ruling. This provoked a further appeal, but at 4:10 appeals court judge Richard Andrias denied the request to delay the enforcement of Freedman's ruling, allowing the sale to continue, as reported yesterday by Bloomberg.

However, later in the day, Esmerian declared bankruptcy in a further attempt to block the sale. A bankruptcy court has set a hearing for today.

At the end of yesterday’s confusing proceedings, Christie’s offered this statement: “This evening's auction was to be conducted on behalf of a creditor of the owners. Earlier today the owners of the property tried to stop the sale in state court. That court refused to block the auction. Having failed in that court, at the 11th hour the owners of the property declared bankruptcy in a further attempt to stop the sale. The bankruptcy court has set a hearing for tomorrow to decide if the sale can go forward. We remain very optimistic that we will be able to proceed with the auction tomorrow at 6 p.m."