Henry Dunay's Inventory Goes For $3.5 Million at Auction

SimplexDiam Inc. and online estate jewelry seller Windsor Jewelers Inc. emerged as the two top bidders in the auction for the inventory of bankrupt Henry Dunay Designs, company founder Henry Dunay told National Jeweler on Friday.

Combined, the companies' $3.5 million bid won them the rights to the high-end designer's inventory, valued at $50 million. The auction was held Wednesday in New York, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York certified the results on Thursday, Dunay said.

In an interview with National Jeweler last month, the designer, who has been in business since 1965 and has won more than 50 national and international awards, said he planned to remain in the industry but on a smaller scale, doing special orders and custom pieces.

On Friday, Dunay said he wasn't sure when or how he would be moving forward with his plans.

"These last six months have been really difficult for me," Dunay said. "I need some time to find my way again."

New York-based SimplexDiam is an asset recovery company that is a well-known name in industry auctions. The company scooped up more than $1 million in diamonds at the asset auction for now-defunct Fortunoff Fine Jewelry and Silverware LLC, and won the residual inventory from the bankruptcies of both Friedman's and Whitehall Jewelers.

Windsor Jewelers Inc. is headed by Paul Lubetsky, a veteran with more than 30 years' experience in the estate jewelry business. The company sells estate and fine jewelry direct to consumers at "deeply discounted prices" via the Internet and at its various trade shows, according the company's Web site, WindsorJewelers.com.

With offices in New York, London and Nice, France, Windsor's staff includes an international group of appraisers with expertise in gemology, as well as contemporary, antique and estate jewelry, according to the Web site.