Two traditional drinking vessels brought surprising toasts to European craftsmen at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (23% buyer’s premium) in Exeter.

Circumstances are quickly changing the way items are bought and sold at auction – but the first principles of quality, keen pricing and provenance still apply.

This brooch – an agate cameo in a diamond and enamel surround – has French assay marks for the Berlin-born, Paris-based historicist jeweller Jules Wièse (1818-90).

Alongside an extensive range of more conventional auction catalogue shots, Fellows has (since July 2019) been picturing every one of its fine jewellery lots being worn.

The highlight of Bonhams Australia’s (27.5/25% buyer’s premium) latest Jewels sale was this agate intaglio seal from the collection of Brisbane Catholic priest Father Peter Grice (1943-2019).

This Royal Navy Reserve officer’s sword owned by Robert Erskine Childers was estimated at €3000-5000 in a recent auction by Mullen’s (20/12.5% buyer’s premium) in Bray, Co Dublin. The scabbard throat of the Victorian 1827-pattern sword is engraved 'RE Childers'.

This 19th century gold diamond, pearl and blue enamel locket and necklace, sold by Reeman Dansie (20% buyer’s premium) in Colchester on August 11 for £2800, came with a little Hollywood stardust.

Many jewels by Anglo-Italian designer Andrew Grima carry the mark HJCo for the Haller Jewellery Company, the workshop of Grima’s father-in-law where he first found work in the accounts department in 1946. It was not until two years later that (untrained) he moved into design.

Pictured here are two of four photographs by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79) sold via thesaleroom.com for £8000 by Duke’s (22% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester.

Sworders’ September 8 sale of Arts & Crafts & Art Deco includes an unprecedented number of pieces by Stanley Webb Davies (1894-1978).

Far more fluent in the language of jewellery and stones, the Georgians and the Victorians would immediately have made the link between snakes and eternal love.

Sapphires come in a range of hues from colourless to blue. The ‘fancy’ canary yellow stones, caused by trace amounts of iron, are particularly desirable - the best found in Sri Lanka.

Pictured here is a ‘palm’ brooch by the post-war Rue de la Paix jeweller Jean Parmentier.

Sixteen upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK and Ireland.

Large quantities of antique, vintage and second-hand jewellery have been sold at auction, both during and after the lockdown. ATG reviews some of the highlights and notes a change in buying habits

Estimated at just £30-50, a late 19th century sampler sold via thesaleroom.com for £1850 at Wotton Auction Rooms (18% buyer’s premium) in Gloucestershire. A clue to the appeal is the inscription 'M Mountain, 5 Orphan House, Ashley Down, Bristol, 1879'.

Nestlé, today a Swiss multinational corporation, was a much smaller company when this rare lithographed showcard was made.

The market for Lucie Rie (1902-95) reached a new high on July 30 when Phillips New York sold this 5½in (14cm) diameter footed bowl for $180,000 (£136,800).