343-year-old Stradivarius violin can fetch more than $11 million in auction

The Stradivarius is a special line of violins that has always fetch huge prices in auctions and is also a special item for most of the collectors. A Stradivarius violin, which is known as the Hellier and was made by the legendary Antonio Stradivari in the late 17th century, is all set to fetch a massive price of more than $11 million at Christie’s London in July. According to the listing on the auction house’s site, the violin was made in 1679 and it went on to become the “blueprint” for the modern violin design that we are familiar with. The violin was created with proportions that were not quite common in that time period and that enabled it to create richer tones than its contemporaries.

The other special thing about the Stradivarius violin is the presence of precious gems on its body. When it comes to the Stradivarius, just 1100 of them exist in the world and among them, only 12 are known to have such gems adorned on them, according to the post on the Christie’s website.

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The violin has a flower and vine design on the fiddle and about 500 ivory diamonds on its body.

According to the listing, this was one of the best inlaid violins made by Stradivari and after keeping it for 55 years, the legendary violinmaker decided to sell it to Samuel Hellier of Wombourne, England.

“Having handled countless Stradivaris, including some of the finest examples, this is without a doubt one of the most exciting, beautiful and impressive instruments in existence. This violin epitomizes, more than most, the vision of Stradivari’s ability to develop things forward; a reason why he deserves his place in the zenith as the unsurpassed violin maker of all time,” the statement from Christie’s London read.

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