“It is a truly iconic object that we were entrusted with”, immediately announces Me Jack-Philippe Ruellan. The Vannes auctioneer is particularly happy to share with the public this torch from the 1968 Winter Olympics. Made for the Grenoble Games, those who saw Jean-Claude Killy triumph, purveyor of three gold medals and named the champion of the century, but also Guy Perillat, Marielle Goitschel, Isabelle Mir or Annie Famose, she has remained in the same family since the beginning. No doubt offered to one of the members of the organizing committee at the time, it is one of the few still on the market.
“Some have been broken, others have disappeared, a few are in museums. But very few end up in the auction room, ”adds the auctioneer. A rarity that makes them real collector’s items that can exceed € 200,000, as in Los Angeles, in August 2019!
5,000 torchbearers over 7,222 km!
Only 33 copies published for the occasion and carried by 5,000 torchbearers, some of these torches were given to medal-winning athletes, others to the organizers. Unlike some, like the one designed by car designer Pininfarina, for Turin, in 2006, and which had been produced in large numbers for sale, that of Grenoble, manufactured by the Technical Company of Industrial Equipment and Supplies , remains more confidential and consequently, much rarer as well as that of Alberville, in 1992.
A surprise cannot be ruled out, and why not a new record?
Still, all have their own personality, since each edition of the Games gives rise to the creation of a torch with a unique design, straight out of the imagination of its designers. A true relic symbolizing the Olympic spirit, this copper torch is therefore one of the rare testimonies of the 1968 Winter Olympics, handed down from hand to hand over a 7,222 km course made on foot, on skis, horse, bicycle, oar, plane, helicopter or escort and even swimming by a diver crossing the port of Marseille!
Estimated between 30,000 and 50,000 €
On February 27, in Vannes, collectors should therefore hurry to bid on this object steeped in history and dear to sports enthusiasts. Authentic collector’s item, resulting from the relay which carried the flame from Olympia, in Greece, to the Olympic cauldron of Grenoble, lit by the skater Alain Calmat, this torch is in “copper plate surmounted by a narrow and slender basin whose upper part is crenellated. The handle is partially covered with a piece of fabric. On the upper part is the inscription: “X Olympic Winter Games Grenoble 1968”. The red bronze object measures 70 cm. It is made of textile and bronze alloy and runs on propane gas, with a load of 280 grams which allows a combustion time of more than two hours, ”says expert Olivier Miquel. Estimated between 30,000 and 50,000 €, Me Ruellan hopes to see his price soar beyond 100,000 euros. “A surprise cannot be ruled out, and why not a new record? “.
Convenient
Sale on February 27, at 2 p.m., at the Vannes auction house. Phone. 02 97 47 26 32 or [email protected]
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