A Barbie doll dressed in a black cocktail dress, pink heels, and a sparkly pink necklace sold at auction at Christie’s yesterday for $302,500. Well, perhaps it’s not a Barbie doll so much as some plastic and fabric that happens to be attached to a custom-designed Cubist pink and white diamond necklace made by Australian jewelry designer Stefano Canturi.

Estimates before the auction predicted that it would sell for $500,000. While it didn’t reach that estimate, prices are up for any items including gold or precious gems. Shiny objects are a solid investment in uncertain times. As the designer himself said, “People are finding things other than the normal channels for investing and what’s happening is going back to the basics like going back to beautiful gold, gems, something they can actually hold on to.”

Barbie with diamond choker sells for record price [BBC]

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