Jay-Z, Grammer & Williams Led 'Time To Give' Auction Raises Over $800,000

Jay-Z, Kelsey Grammer, & Vanessa Williams joined Audemars Piguet and the Tony Awards® at the "Time To Give" Auction at the Four Seasons Hotel on Monday, May 17th. Star-Powered signatures from Meryl Streep, Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson on Audemars Piguet Timepieces up for Auction raised $816,000 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

The auction included pieces from Jay-Z, Kelsey & Camille Grammer, Vanessa Williams, Pras Michel, Nick Cannon, Patrick Heusinger, Memphis' Derrick Baskin and J. Bernard Calloway, AP Brand Ambassadors/LPGA golfers Cristie Kerr and Morgan Pressel, and Matt Walton joined Francois-Henry Bennahmias, President & CEO, Audemars Piguet North America, Tom Viola, Executive Director, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and Jan Svendsen, Director of Marketing, The Broadway League. Other notables included: Clo & Charles Cohen, Stewart Rahr, and DJ Kiss, who played at the after-party.

"Time to Give" is an historic collaboration between renowned Swiss watchmaker Audemars Piguet and the Tony Awards. A live, invitation-only auction (conducted by Christie's Lydia Fenet) of 13 celebrity autographed timepieces was the evening's centerpiece. Special thanks to ISAIA and Wall Street Journal for their support. Transportation provided by Empire CLS Worldwide.

Highlights from the live auction included:

Jay-Z, sitting front row, when asked what else he could add to the auction package of his autographed Royal Oak Offshore Las Vegas Strip and signed poster from "Fela" jokingly said he would "throw in a frame." The watch sold for $220,000; the evening's highest price.

Kelsey Grammer, when commenting on his autographed Jules Audemars Chronograph said it's" What James Bond would wear if he had taste." The watch sold for $45,000.

When Meryl Streep's watch sold for $100,000, Francois-Henry Bennahmias offered up a second autographed Meryl Streep Millenary Astrologia to a guest willing to match the $100,000 bid.

Vanessa Williams offered to sing live if someone paid $50,000 for her watch, which someone willingly did. Williams wowed the standing room only crowd with an a cappella rendition of "Losing My Mind," which she sings in her hit show "Sondheim on Sondheim".

The remaining lots sold as follows:

Liev Schreiber: $13,000
Neil Patrick Harris: $24,000
Nathan Lane: $26,000
Antonio Banderas: $28,000
Scarlett Johansson: $40,000
Daniel Radcliffe: $40,000
Hugh Jackman: $50,000
Catherine Zeta Jones; $80,000

Fifteen of the watches from this collection are still available and can be viewed and bid on by the public at charitybuzz.com through May 24th, the leading destination for online charity auctions, at www.charitybuzz.com/audemarspiguet.

About "Time To Give"

Meryl Streep, Hugh Jackman, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jay-Z join a host of legendary stars of stage and screen who have lent their signatures to Audemars Piguet (O-de-mar Pee-gay) timepieces to benefit Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Each watch will be a one-of-a-kind creation featuring the celebrity's signature visibly recreated on the back or side of the timepiece making them highly collectible by watch aficionados and celeb fans alike. Starting on May 3rd, the collection can be viewed and bid on by the public at charitybuzz.com, the leading destination for online charity auctions, at www.charitybuzz.com/audemarspiguet. The total retail value of the collection by Audemars Piguet exceeds $1 million.

The celebrities who have lent their signatures to Audemars Piguet watches include some of the biggest names on Broadway: Antonio Banderas, Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming, Edie Falco, Whoopi Goldberg, Kelsey Grammer, Sean Hayes, Neil Patrick Harris, David Hyde Pierce, Hugh Jackman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jay-Z, Jane Krakowski, Nathan Lane, Angela Lansbury, Cyndi Lauper, John Lithgow, Sienna Miller, Bebe Neuwirth, Cynthia Nixon, Chita Rivera, Anika Noni Rose, Liev Schreiber, Meryl Streep, and Vanessa Williams.

A highlight of "Time to Give" includes a men's and women's Royal Oak Offshore 57th Street watch each signed by Daniel Radcliffe and Scarlett Johansson and designed specifically to commemorate Audemars Piguet's New York "moment" - their partnership with the Tony Awards and new flagship boutique on East 57th Street.

For the second year, Audemars Piguet is the official red carpet sponsor of the 64th Annual Tony Awards, which will be broadcast in a live three-hour ceremony from Radio City Music Hall on the CBS television network on Sunday, June 13, 2010.

Photo Credit: Bill Davila/startraksphotos.com