７年目のピパジュエルズオブザスカイ！エリート競売が力を増して動きます。
The reports issued by these organizations deal with details that impact the value of these gemstones including chemical composition, crystal system, habit rarity, color, luster, translucency hardness and much more. Though there is no universally accepted grading system there are a number of recognized laboratories which grade and provide reports on diamonds. These, to mention but a few include the following:
- Gemological Institute of America (GIA), the main provider of education services and diamond grading reports
- Hoge Raad voor Diamant (HRD Antwerp), The Diamond High Council, Belgium is one of Europe's oldest laboratories. Its main stakeholder is the Antwerp World Diamond Centre.
- American Gemological Society (AGS) is not as widely recognized nor as old as the GIA.
- American Gem Trade Laboratory which is part of the American Gem Trade Association (AGTA), a trade organization of jewelers and dealers of colored stones.
- American Gemological Laboratories (AGL), which was sold by "Collector's Universe" a NASDAQ listed company which specializes in certification of collectibles such as coins and stamps. It is now owned by Christopher P. Smith, who was awarded the Antonio C. Bonanno Award for Excellence in Gemology in 2009
- European Gemological Laboratory (EGL), founded in 1974 by Guy Margel in Belgium.
- Gemmological Association of All Japan (GAAJ-ZENHOKYO), Zenhokyo, Japan, active in gemological research
Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewels
Interesting to note that two of the very top institutes or laboratories are in fact Belgian and amongst the world’s oldest and most respected laboratories in this field. Does it then come as any surprise to us that when dealing with the sale of exceptional racing pigeons worldwide that a Belgian company (PIPA) should have taken upon itself the responsibility to create a similar methodology for discovering and evaluating the finest pigeons in the world and then go one step further by offering to serve the very real needs of both buyers and sellers by acting in the best interests of all parties in evaluating and indeed confirming that the racing pigeons offered meet the high standards and meticulous scrutiny that then allows them to be offered under the highly desirable “Jewels of The Sky” brand.
Now in the world of racing pigeons there is only one organization that can claim to be in a position to inspect and certify and offer for sale living “Jewels of the Sky”. That organization is none other than the Belgian “trend setting” PIPA. Buyers from all over the world base their decisions upon what the PIPA team offer exclusively on their super select annual “Jewels of the Sky” auction.
"Jewels of The Sky" was the brainchild of Nikolaas, who together with Thomas and Dr. Carlo then worked diligently
to make it a hugely successful reality!
Though the idea was conceived of by Nikolaas Gyselbrecht in the summer of 2004 it was not until October of 2005 (October 2005 till January 2006.)that the very first event actually went live. A brilliant idea in its seeming overall simplicity. Bring together the finest available performance and breeding pigeons from the acknowledged Belgian, Dutch superstars and thus the hugely successful PIPA brand “Jewels of The Sky” became an instant hit. PIPA had delivered what the worldwide market place wanted. Buyers finally had access to the very best and critically acclaimed Sellers finally had access to the top buyers worldwide and prices were finally dictated by open market in short “supply and demand”. Classical free market enterprise at its best enabled by 21st century digital technology, a highly skilled team of researchers and experienced selectors in short super quality offered in one online venue to the entire world and the laws of supply and demand really did the rest! The results were exceedingly satisfactory to all concerned .Very simply put the winning formula was the “Best birds from the Best Fanciers to the Best buyers in the world” and all of it made possible by the most visited and trusted auction house in the world “PIPA” the “Christie’s” of the racing pigeon world!
Like the earlier referenced “Gemological” institutes PIPA in its branded “Jewels of the Sky” sale also developed critical selection criteria as follows:
- A maximum of only 50 world class fanciers are invited to participate “Jewels of the Sky” by supplying no more than 5 to 12 birds each.
- Every fancier invited to participate is visited by the PIPA selection committee.
- Every bird is inspected meticulously by a group of experts that is operating at the highest level and recognized throughout the world for their exceptional expertise. This group changes dependent upon availability ,timing and prior commitments but includes one of the co-founders of the strain “De Rauw Sablon” Mt. Frans Sablon, additionally the breeder of the world famous “Freddy” Mr. Freddy Vandenheede, The internationally respected pigeon veterinarian Dr. Carlo Gyselbrecht, European pigeon journalist Martin Martens as well as a host of others!
- Fanciers are required to supply birds that not only race well but are also wonderful breeders.
- Fanciers invited to supply their racing or breeding Jewels must be highly motivated, incredibly credible, highly successful, totally professional and scrupulously honest.
- The racing or breeding Jewels offered had to be “exclusive” pigeons, super pigeons, pigeons that are typically not available for sale. In short “Key” pigeons in the originating colonies.
- Fanciers invited to participate must have achieved exceptional racing results in their home lofts in both racing and breeding.
- The birds of fanciers invited to participate must have achieved exceptional verifiable racing results in the lofts of other fanciers.
- The birds offered must demonstrate super health.
- The birds offered must have super soft and luxurious plumage.
- The birds offered must handle incredibly in the hand.
- The birds offered must be verified as regards their pedigree and heritage.
All of the above and much more that is indeed of a proprietary nature goes into the selection process of every single bird offered in this yearly select sale. As new records are achieved every year Fanciers must select ever more rigorously in order to maintain their coveted reputations. In short it has become an actual competition amongst invitees to see who can dominate the overall average year after year and this can only be done by offering higher and higher quality each year, thus benefitting the PIPA buyers worldwide. Without a doubt these are racing pigeons of such excellence that in the normal course of events would never be offered for sale in any other public auction situation!
An example of the selection process is in order. Let us say, for example, thata super racer of 6 years old is offered to the “Jewels of The Sky” selection committe, let us also say that this super racer was retired at age three, well the selection process would then be required to review the breeding records of this super performance pigeon to ascertain whether or not it has proven itself as a breeder. In the event that in the preceeding three years it had failed to produce special youngsters with exceptional racing talent then this pigeon would be refused entry into the “Jewels of the Sky” event! In short the pigeons being offered were selected as the finest avaliable in the finest lofts in the world!
It is interesting to note that since PIPA is the only online racing pigeon auctioniong service in the world that has its own inhouse dedicated IT staff that they are always working on making ever more original ways of internet buyers to view their potential purchases.The 7th Edition of “Jewels of The Sky” will incorporate a revolutionary new interactive ability as the buyers will in fact be able to view a number of the offered pigeons in a 360° overall view.This is an enormous step forward, it is the unique ability for potential buyers worldwide to view the entire pigeon by literally clicking and turning the pigeon around so that it can be viewed from every concievable angle.This unique function required the coordination of phographers, fanciers and IT personell.Certainly not an inexpensive feature however every edition of “Jewels of The Sky” attempts in every way to outdo the achievements of every other record setting “Jewels of the Sky” event. So this 7th event is looking to be very promising indeed and God willing new records will be set again.
Some interesting facts from past “Jewels of the Sky” auctions:
I have for general interst sake as well as future historical reference listed the top 50 averages of ALL the “Jewels of the Sky” auctions since the beginning. No doubt the publication of this list is motivation enough for those exceptional fanciers who have been invited to participate to eventually TOP this list. Clearly they can only do so by selecting and offering SUPER birds.
Another first for PIPA starting with this 7th Jewels of the Sky auction is the introduction of the “PIPA Pigeon Quality Certificate”
in which PIPA certifies the quality of the racing pigeon identified!Herein examples of both the Chinese and English versions.
To date the most expensive pigeon sold in the “ Jewels of the Sky” was a son of Limoges, offered by Freddy & Jacques Vandenheede in Jewels 2009-2010 that sold for €41,000 Euros.The 2010-2011 edition of “Jewels of the Sky” was the first time that this unique auction grossed over one million euros.
The top 10 averages herein listed were mostly achieved during the last two editions of “Jewels of The Sky”, except the three averages of Ludo Claessens. Clearly Ludo Claessens set a new standard of excellence and at the beginning of 2008 he had a stranglehold on the top three averages of ALL of the “Jewels of the Sky” editions. Claessens offered some of his most famous breeders in the “Jewels of the Sky” auction. Other fanciers saw this and followed in his footsteps. Well three years have now passed since his last participation in a “Jewels of The Sky” event yet he still has three placings in the top 10 of the Jewels of the Sky All Time Averages.
A sample of the back side of the new PIPA Quality Certification. A very unique idea that has some of the finest and
most respected fanciers in the world inspecting the quality of the pigeons offered for sale in this uniquely branded PIPA auction.
The “Jewels of The Sky” event has now reached such a level of excellence that top fanciers like Koopman and Vandenheede offer some of their main breeders for sale in the “Jewels of the Sky” events. Well this year the fight for that top position is on with Koopman offering “Doran and Marlon”, Vandenheede offering his grandmother to 2 X 1st National out of a brother to Freddy. Roziers will offer his Nr. 1 breeding pair “Parents King of Belgium” which are also grandparents to 1st National in Holland, they are both from 2006. So there will be an unbelievable list of super pigeons for sale at this 7th “Jewels of the Sky” event. Keep a close eye on this event as no doubt records will be shattered when Chinese fanciers of great wealth realize the uniqueness of what will be on offer this year.
How far has the quality been raised from the 1st “Jewels of the Sky” event in 2005 though to the 6th event in 2010. If memory serves me right in the 2005/2006 event 290 pigeons garnered a gross turnover of €418,250 and by the time of the 2010/2011 event a total of 403 pigeons brought a gross turnover of €1,066,275.00 Euro. It seems clear to me that this could only have been achieved by offering discriminating buyers worldwide an ever higher and higher quality of super racing pigeons.
Now finally for all those North American fanciers who thrive on statistics, on numbers, on lists, her is the unofficial top 50 averages covering the first 6 “Jewels of The Sky” events. Will this 7th event be a record breaker?Well we will know soon enough in 2012.
TOP 50 AVERAGES SINCE THE 1st JEWELS OF THE SKY!
1. Koopman C&G 2010-2011: 10.620 € / pigeon (5 pigeons in auction)
2. Veenstra Pieter 2010-2011: 9.600 € / pigeon (5 pigeons in auction)
3. Koopman C&G 2009-2010: 9.000 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
4. Vandenheede F&J 2009-2010: 8.413 € / pigeon (11 pigeons in auction)
5. Claessens Ludo 2006-2007: 8.360 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
6. SG Jung-Jupid 2010-2011: 8.160 € / pigeon (5 pigeons in auction)
7. Claessens Ludo 2007-2008: 7.750 € / pigeon (12 pigeons in auction)
8. Hooymans Jan 2010-2011: 7.320 € / pigeon (5 pigeons in auction)
9. Thoné Jos 2009-2010: 7.140 € / pigeon (5 pigeons in auction)
10. Claessens Ludo 2005-2006: 6.550 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
11. Roosen Pros 2009-2010: 5.780 € / pigeon (5 pigeons in auction)
12. Koopman C&G 2008-2009: 5.110 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
13. Limbourg Erik 2010-2011: 4.980 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
14. Limbourg Erik 2009-2010: 4.665 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
15. Koopman C&G 2006-2007: 4.520 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
16. Vandenheede F&J 2010-2011: 4.518 € / pigeon (11 pigeons in auction)
17. Hans Eijerkamp & Zonen 2009-2010: 4.470 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
18. Thoné Jos 2008-2009 : 4.420 € / pigeon (5 pigeons in auction)
19. Verkerk G&S 2010-2011: 4.400 € / pigeon (5 pigeons in auction)
20. Koopman C&G 2007-2008: 4.320 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
21. Petrie Alwin 2010-2011: 4.090 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
22. Verkerk G&S 2007-2008: 4.080 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
23. Hebberecht Chris 2010-2011: 3.900 € / pigeon (7 pigeons in auction)
24. Koopman C&G 2005-2006: 3.740 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
25. Vercammen Jos 2010-2011: 3.650 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
26. Roosen Pros 2007-2008: 3.440 € / pigeon (5 pigeons in auction)
27. Steveninck Benny 2010-2011: 3.415 € / pigeon (6 pigeons in auction)
28. Verkerk G&S 2006-2007: 3.300 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
29. Hans & Evert-Jan Eijerkamp 2010-2011: 3.275 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
30. Steveninck Benny 2009-2010: 3.250 € / pigeon (8 pigeons in auction)
31. Verkerk G&S 2008-2009: 3.215 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
32. Verreckt-Ariën 2010-2011: 3.180 € / pigeon (8 pigeons in auction)
33. Roziers P&J 2009-2010: 3.167 € / pigeon (6 pigeons in auction)
34. Roosen Pros 2008-2009: 3.060 € / pigeon (5 pigeons in auction)
35. Seelbach&Jung 2008-2009: 3.000 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
36. Limbourg Erik 2008-2009: 2.875 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
37. Ad Schaerlaeckens 2009-2010: 2.800 € / pigeon (5 pigeons in auction)
38. Van de Merwe Peter 2007-2008: 2.765 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
39. Van Damme Johan 2010-2011: 2.745 € /pigeon (11 pigeons in auction)
40. Veenstra Pieter 2007-2008: 2.718 € / pigeon (11 pigeons in auction)
41. Van Noordenne Nico 2008-2009: 2.715 € / pigeon (11 pigeons in auction)
42. Brockamp Dr. H.P. & P. 2007-2008: 2.708 € / pigeon (12 pigeons in auction)
43. Verkerk G&S 2009-2010: 2.630 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
44. Van de Merwe Peter 2006-2007: 2.625 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
45. Brockamp Dr. H.P. & P. 2008-2009: 2.604 € / pigeon (12 pigeons in auction)
46. Declerck-Blancke 2010-2011: 2.575 € / pigeon (10 pigeons in auction)
47. Van de Merwe Peter 2010-2011: 2.550 € / pigeon (11 pigeons in auction)
48. Etienne Meirlaen 2009-2010: 2.500 € / pigeon (11 pigeons in auction)
49. Vandenheede Freddy 2007-2008: 2.498 € / pigeon (11 pigeons in auction)
50. Sander H&F 2007-2008: 2.494 € / pigeon (9 pigeons in auction)
For those interested the 7th Jewels of The Sky auction is set to begin on the 26th of September. Every month there will be 2 auctions with 5-6 fanciers per auction. The last month is January
Below is the list of Elite participants for this 7th Jewels of the Sky, all by invitation only, all prescreened, all hand selected, all verified.These Elite fanciers are from Belgium, Holland and for the very first time also from Germany and the United Kingdom.
Ally Norbert
Batenburg-Van de Merwe
Berckmoes Eric
Casaert-Senechal
Clicque Gino
Cooper Geoff & Catherine
De Saer A&R
De Smeyter-Restiaen
Declerck-Blancke
Eijerkamp Hans & E.J.
Geerinckx L,B & J
Gevaert-Lannoo
Gilbert Mark
Hebberecht Chris
Hooymans Jan
Houfflyn P&D
Jespers-Van der Wegen
Jung-Jupid
Koopman C&G
Leijtens Cor
Limbourg Erik
Meirlaen Etienne
Minderhoud Koen
Petrie Alwin
Platteeuw Raf & Kurt
Pollin Marc
Roziers P&J
Sangers Marcel
Steveninck Benny
Stieneker Klaus
Thibaut-Boons
Udo A.
Van de Merwe Peter
Van de Merwe Piet
Van de Pasch Jan
Van de Wouwer Gaston
Van den Berg Mark
Van der Zijde Rens
Van Eynde-Govaerts
Van Noordenne Nico
Van Oeckel Bart
Vandenheede F&J
Verbesselt Andre
Vercammen Jos
Verkerk G&S
Verstraete R&X
Vervloesem R&P
Vink Marijke
Vredeveld-Leemhuis
