The Mark Knopfler guitar collection brought in £8,840,160 at Christie’s in London last night. Bidders registered from 61 countries, new auction records were set and the top lot was his vintage 1959 Les Paul Standard which realised £693,000 setting a new world auction record for the model. The collection of the celebrated singer-songwriter, guitar hero and frontman of the iconic British band, Dire Straits aroused phenomenal competition and the 122 lot auction lasted over six hours and was 100% sold. A total of 25% of the total hammer price will be divided equally and donated to charities that Mark Knopfler has supported for many years: The British Red Cross, Tusk and Brave Hearts of the North East. 100% of the funds raised from the final lot are being donated to Teenage Cancer Trust. In addition, Christie’s is contributing a further £50,000 to each of the four charities.