BONHAMS TO SELL 'WORLD'S MOST VALUABLE HAT'

BONHAMS & BUTTERFIELDS, SAN FRANSISCO, WILL BE HOSTING ITS FIRST SALE DEVOTED SOLELY TO OPALS, THE GEMSTONE KNOWN FOR ITS SOMETIMES FIERY, SOMETIMES MILKY HUES. ON 10.NOVEMBER, THE NATURE OF OPALS SALE WILL FEATURE A DIVERSE GROUP OF DISTINCTIVE JEWELRY, LOOSE STONES, MINERAL SPECIMENS, LAPIDARY WORKS OF ART, DECORATIVE OBJECTS, DECOR AND FOSSILS, ALL MADE FROM THE LUMINOUS GEM. THE HIGHLIGHT OF THE SALE, HOWEVER, ISN'T A PRICEY PIECE OF JEWELRY, BUT RATHER A HAT, ONE OF THE WORLD'S MOST VALUABLE TO BE OFFERED AT AUCTION, BONHAMS SAID IN A RECENT STATEMENT. DUBBED THE 'DEEP BLUE SEA', THE HAT IS CRAFTED FROM HAND-BLOCKED AUSTRALIAN FELT, EMBELLISHED WITH FEATHERS AND BEJEWELED WITH 26 OPALS WEIGHING APPROXIMATELY 1,447 CARATS AND MINED AT AUSTRALIA'S FAMED LIGHTING RIDGE. A COLLABORATION BETWEEN AUSTRALIAN MASTER MILLINER ANN MAREE WILLETT AND OPAL MINERS VICKI AND PETER DRACKETT, THE HAT WAS ALSO WORKED ON BY ACCLAIMED OPAL CARVERS DANIELA L'ABBATE AND CHRISTINE ROUSSEL AND FEATURES STERLING SILVER AND 18 CARAT GOLD SETTINGS BY MASTER GOLDSMITH GERD GEROLD SCHULZ. IT IS ESTIMATED AT BETWEEN $150,000 AND $200,000.