The glove that graced the hand of Michael Jackson when he debuted his signature “Moonwalk” dance — the same glove that sold for $420,000 at auction — looked equally at home on a coffee table in Goshen on Thanksgiving Day.
Goshen native Darren Julien, the owner of Julien’s Auctions, a high-end, celebrity auction house based in Los Angeles, was in town visiting his family Thursday.
Julien’s company handled the Nov. 21 auction of Jackson memorabilia at the Hard Rock Cafe in New York’s Time Square. The sale included the glittery glove that Jackson wore when he unveiled his Moonwalk in 1983 during Motown’s 25th anniversary TV special.
With shipping costs (with insurance) at $15,000 and the unique nature of the item, Julien was flying first-class this week from New York to Indiana to Los Angeles, and finally, to deliver the glove to the winning bidder, Hoffman Ma in Hong Kong.
“I told him I had to stop off in Indiana to see my family,” Julien said. “He just told me, ‘Take care of the glove.’”
While at the home of his father and stepmother, Keith and Arlene Julien of Goshen, the family — including sister Dawn (Pat) Woods and their children — got a peek at the glove. They were also privy to a look at the autographed black jacket Jackson wore for his “Bad” tour, which sold to a separate client for $270,000. Julien will hand-deliver the jacket to the winning bidder in Austin, Texas.
While the glove was unveiled and laying on black cloth on the coffee table, Julien — the uncle of eight — gave friendly, but firm, instructions to look but not touch. Family members were free to take snapshots and have a group photo taken with the glove and jacket.
Julien said he was surprised at the amount the glove went for. It hit the auction block with an estimated sale price of $40,000 to $60,000.
“It went for 10 times what it was estimated at,” he said.
The Moonwalk glove isn’t like Jackson’s other glittery gloves, which were made for the right hand and adorned with hand-sewn crystals. This left-handed glove, which complemented Jackson’s fedora and dance moves, is a modified, store-bought glove covered with a mesh of rhinestones, according to the Associated Press. Julien estimated the glove’s materials and making were probably only around $100.
First glove auction reports had Hoffman Ma paying $350,000, which was the “hammer” price, Julien explained, and did not include taxes and auction house fees. The total price paid by Ma was $420,000. The businessman is building the world’s largest casino in Hong Kong and will display the glove in the lobby.
Hand-delivering expensive items to clients is part of the job for Julien — especially when those items cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“The clients feel better when they are delivered by hand,” he said.
Over the past 10 years, Julien has handled memorabilia of — and worked personally with — high-profile celebrities including Cher, Barbara Streisand, U2, Jerry Seinfeld and Johnny Cash. He has sold items from the estates of Bob Hope, Marilyn Monroe and Mary Pickford and handled the auction of the Gibson SG guitar George Harrison played on the Beatles’ White Album.
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