David Gilmour's guitar collection auction viewed with 3D reality capture

This isn’t your typical rock tour; the Pink Floyd singer and songwriter’s guitar collection went to auction through Christie’s auction house, complete with an immersive, on demand 3D virtual experience of the iconic instruments.

In what was the largest and most comprehensive sale of guitars ever offered, The David Gilmour Guitar Collection was also made available in the most comprehensive view of any show floor.

In case you weren’t one of the more than 12,000 fans who managed to attend one of the three stops during the collection’s world tour, it’s available on virtual world tour, allowing anyone to experience the show for themselves, on-demand with Matterport 3D. The auction made it possible to view the auction floor as well as view item details along with the option to bid, in the immersive virtual experience.

As one of the most influential guitarists in music’s history, David Gilmour’s collection sold as the most valuable musical instrument auction in history. The auction was curated by Christie’s, taking place at their Rockefellar Center headquarters and proceeds were donated to ClientEarth, an environmental legislation advocacy group.

Featuring some of the Pink Floyd guitarist’s most iconic instruments, the auction provided plenty of history and information.

Here are five facts about the record-setting music auction:

1. The complete collection, which consisted of 126 lots, was 100% sold and brought in a total of $21,490,750. That figure makes it the most valuable musical instrument auction in history.

2. While those lucky 12,000 people were able to visit the collection first hand, the online content and 3D tour experience amassed an excess of 500,000 views for the Christies website.

3. There were several guitars sold that were instrumental in the recording each of Pink Floyd’s iconic albums. None, however, could match the legend, or winning bid, on of ‘The Black Strat’ which sold for $3,975,000 – establishing a new world record (breaking the one set earlier in the day) for a guitar at auction. The solid-body Fender Stratocaster was used to record Pink Floyd albums, The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975), Animals (1977) and The Wall (1979). The estimated valuation of $100,000- $150,000 was blown away by this piece of musical, rock history.

4. On the day of the auction itself, the collection drew more than 2,000 bidders from 66 countries. Apart from those registrants, a second sale room had to be opened to accommodate the crowds that came to experience the sale.

5. At least five world-records were set at this auction. In addition to the aforementioned total sale mark and Fender Stratocaster price (twice) the day also featured the record sale for a C.F. Martin, Gretsch and Les Paul guitar; the latter beating out the guitar namesake’s own 1954 custom model.

Through such a unique collection came a truly unique event. Through online and in-person engagements came one of the most successful auctions of all time, featuring one of the greatest rock groups of all time.

The ability (both before and after the auction) to tour an immersive look at the details and history of this legendary music story was captured with a comprehensiveness to match that of the collection itself; all with the use of the 3D immersive experience.