1-of-1 Marvel Infinity Gauntlet With More Than 170 Carats of Real Gems Heads to Auction

A one-of-one Marvel Infinity Gauntlet created with more than 170 carats of real gemstones is heading to auction for the first time, four years after the extraordinary collectible was unveiled with a $25 million asking price. Julien’s Auctions will offer the gauntlet as a headline lot in its Pop Culture Legends Evening Auction on December 8 at Rosewood Abu Dhabi on Al Maryah Island. The current auction estimate is being provided privately to prospective bidders, and Julien’s says participation in bidding on the piece will require pre-approval.

The gauntlet was created by East Continental Gems in collaboration with Marvel as a single, one-of-one recreation of the Infinity Gauntlet using valuable natural gemstones in place of the six fictional Infinity Stones. It was first unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con in 2022 and offered for sale at $25 million.

According to Julien’s feature on the upcoming sale, the project began in 2019 after East Continental Gems CEO Adam Mirzoeff saw a toy Infinity Gauntlet on the desk of a senior Marvel executive and suggested creating a real version. Marvel later gave the company access to the layered design files used for the Infinity Gauntlet seen on screen, allowing East Continental Gems to build its gem-set recreation around the film design. The completed gauntlet stands nearly 20 inches tall. Each of its six gemstones was selected to represent one of the Infinity Stones and had to be large enough to visually match the scale of the gauntlet. Together, the gems weigh more than 170 carats.

Julien’s says all six gemstones are untreated, a significant distinction for stones of their size and quality. Each has been certified and authenticated by the American Gemological Laboratories, while the diamond carries additional documentation from the Gemological Institute of America.

One of the stones has an especially long history of its own. The emerald representing the Time Stone was discovered more than a century ago and had remained in East Continental Gems’ collection for more than 30 years. According to Julien’s, the company had repeatedly declined to sell the emerald before ultimately using it for the Marvel commission.

The combination makes the gauntlet something of a crossover collectible between Marvel memorabilia, fine jewelry and rare gemstones. Rather than being an original movie-used prop, it is a licensed one-of-one recreation created with access to Marvel’s design materials and constructed around gemstones that have substantial collectible value independent of the Marvel connection.

“Every so often, an object comes along that doesn’t fit neatly into any one category, and those are the ones that excite us,” Julien’s Auctions CEO Ken Citron said. He described the gauntlet as part fine jewelry, part tribute to Marvel’s cinematic saga and part cultural artifact.

The eventual buyer will receive considerably more than the gauntlet itself. Julien’s says the lot will be accompanied by complete gemological certification for each of the six stones, its original fitted presentation case and a signed certificate of authenticity from Jim Starlin, creator of the original Marvel Comics Infinity Gauntlet storyline.

The December 8 sale will mark the first time the one-of-one gauntlet changes hands since its creation, putting an unusually elaborate Marvel collectible on the open auction market after several years as one of the franchise’s most extravagant display pieces.