Good morning! It's the day that many Pink Floyd fans have been waiting for - today, at 10am EST (3pm UK/BST) at Christie's in New York City, over 120 of David Gilmour's guitars are up for auction, raising money for charity (more about that shortly). These range from his most iconic and best known instruments, through to ones that he has accumulated over the years and have less sparkling CVs.

The day, the event, seems to have polarised a significant amount of the Pink Floyd community. There's those who are excited, and have mentally committed a certain amount of money so they can place a few bids, with the hopes of getting their hands on one of David's instruments, whatever it might be.

There are also those who are sad (some, desperately) about his selling of the bulk of his collection. Those people should rest assured - he stated recently that he was keeping at least 20 guitars, including a replica Black Strat that is seemingly incredibly close in sound and feel to the original. In a recent fan Q&A, he said: "Don't fret too much. I still have a few lovely guitars that I couldn't let go. A 1945 Martin D18, my Fender Esquire nicknamed The Workmate and a Black Gretsch Duo-Jet to name but three." On being asked what it is about the Workmate that led to him keeping it over 0001 and the Black Strat, he responded: "I'm just too fond of the Workmate."

He has also made it clear that he isn't finishing with the creation and performance of music ("No, no. It does not mean retirement"), and on being asked "Have you retained sufficient guitars to make another album, and play more live shows? Do you have any such plans?" he gave a simple "Yes and yes". Great news for all those concerned that this auction was seeing David conclude this element of his life.

Last night, David revealed where the money raised today would be going:

As things happen today, we will endeavour to keep this page up to date with all the latest occurrences, sale prices of items, and such like, shown below. Stay on this page and refresh it for all the latest information on what's taking place! The latest items will be at the top, so scroll down to see older updates. By the way, please let us know if any of you are lucky winners of any of the guitars/cases on offer today...

UPDATE - 11:00pm UK/6:00pm New York-EST
The auction has now finished, a marathon effort that exceeded all expectations (and estimates completely smashed), raising a huge amount for charity - David's aim all along...

UPDATE - 5:35pm UK/12:35pm New York-EST
The 0001 Strat...

UPDATE - 4:50pm UK/11:50am New York-EST
Now up to Lot 11 (Martin D12-28)...everything way over the estimates. Lot 2, a Martin D-35, set an early record...

UPDATE - 3:47pm UK/10:47am New York-EST

UPDATE - 3:37pm UK/10:37am New York-EST
Due to the sheer amount of demand, there's been a further delay of 15-20 minutes to the start of the auction.

There is the possibility of watching the auction online - should the website stand up to the demand - if you go to this link at Christies, select View Only, and you should be able to watch it all happening!

UPDATE - 3:25pm UK/10:25am New York-EST
The scene inside the auction room...

UPDATE - 3:05pm UK/10:05am New York-EST
Tweet from @ChristiesInc; the start of the auction has been delayed:

UPDATE - 2:55pm UK/9:55am New York-EST
Get ready...!
Five minutes until the auction starts; good luck everyone and have fun! Updates on how things are going will be here as we get verified prices and such like...

UPDATE - 2:40pm UK/9:40am New York-EST
TWENTY MINUTES TO GO!
Twenty minutes until the auction starts, and Christie's website is running painfully slowly. Hope it doesn't affect anyone intending to bid online.

BD's Ed is now in the building, and still the line goes on...

UPDATE - 2:10pm UK/9:10am New York-EST
LESS THAN ONE HOUR TO GO!
With just about fifty minutes to go until the auction starts, and the first lot goes under the hammer (figuratively speaking) here's the scene outside Christie's. Quite a line waiting/hoping to enter! Picture courtesy of Ed Lopez-Reyes, on the spot for BD...

Getting closer now...(2:18pm/9:18am):

UPDATE - 1pm UK/8am New York-EST
TWO HOURS TO GO!
It's been good to hear from a few of you who are hoping to snag something in today's sale. An exciting if nervous time for you! Anyone thinking of bidding, particularly online, would be advised to get themselves registered so there are no last minute panics, issues or uncertainty, when the sale starts. You can do this at Christies.com of course.

Best of luck to everyone who is going to be bidding! If you are lucky enough to get something, do please let us know. We'd love to hear your story.

UPDATE - 12:30pm UK/7:30am New York-EST:
Unsurprisingly, the print version of the catalogue (the cover of which can be seen at the top right of this article) is now out of stock. I wonder if demand will result in them printing more? As the example double page layout to the right shows, it's a beautifully produced guide to every item in the sale. For each item, there's a rundown of what it is, its history (physical and musical - what you can hear it on), and so on.

If you missed out, you can view/download/print out the PDF version of the catalogue, via this link at the Christies website. The more basic list of items in today's sale is also available to view - though this link - if you need it for your shopping list(!), or indeed to make a note of how much each item sells for.

UPDATE - 12:20pm UK/7:20am New York-EST
It's been good to hear from a few of you who are hoping to snag something in today's sale. An exciting if nervous time for you! Anyone thinking of bidding, particularly online, would be advised to get themselves registered so there are no last minute panics, issues or uncertainty, when the sale starts. You can do this at Christies.com of course.

Best of luck to everyone who is going to be bidding! If you are lucky enough to get something, do let us know. We'd love to hear your story.

UPDATE - 11:35am UK/6:35am New York-EST:
Let's remind ourselves what David said when the sale was announced (stunning many parts of the Floyd community worldwide):

"These guitars have been very good to me and many of them have given me pieces of music over the years. They have paid for themselves many times over, but it's now time that they moved on. Guitars were made to be played and it is my wish that wherever they end up, they continue to give their owners the gift of music. By auctioning these guitars I hope that I can give some help where it is really needed and through my charitable foundation do some good in this world. It will be a wrench to see them go and perhaps one day I'll have to track one or two of them down and buy them back!"

UPDATE - 10:50am UK/5:50am New York-EST:
While we are waiting for things to start happening - the auction begins at 10am New York time - here's a look at a few of the key instruments courtesy of Michael Lello of the New York Post.

UPDATE - 9:10am UK/4:10am New York-EST:
As with the exhibition of David's guitars at Christie's in London, the New York show room of the auction house also created a "virtual" tour around all the guitars on display, just like you were in the room. There's also a VR option for those with the equipment, to get more of a feeling of being there. As with being there in the flesh, you can't touch the instruments though!

It's a fun way to have a look around the various rooms at the items on offer, and more "alive" than the catalogue. Click the following to visit the virtual tour (this opens a separate page on Christie's website):