Latest News Articles by Roland Arkell
‘Komai’ bachelor tea set sparkles at Sudeley Castle sale
10 March 2025This silver and parcel gilt ‘Komai’ bachelor tea set by Elkington & Co sold for £16,000 (plus 23.5% buyer’s premium) at British Bespoke Auctions.
17th century clocks make starring role in Norfolk
10 March 2025A private collection of clocks provided the core of the auction titled Clocks & Watches Through the Ages at TW Gaze on March 4. Seventeenth century continental European clocks provided two of the day’s top prices.
Door open to next part of Beedham collection
10 March 2025The second part of the Beedham Collection – an exceptional array of early oak furniture and associated works of art from the Derbyshire dealing family – comes for sale at Bishop & Miller in Glandford, Norfolk, on March 19.
Patek’s flying saucer sighted
10 March 2025Since Patek Philippe brought out the Calatrava in the 1930s, the watch – with time-only functionality and an austere circular case shape – has been produced in many different dial and case variants.
It’s complicated: the Universal Genève Tri-Compax
10 March 2025The Universal Genève Tri-Compax (Ref 222973) is one of the classic post-war chronographs.
Cartier’s London-made watches in demand at Roseberys
10 March 2025Affirming the continued interest in the watches made under the direction of Jean-Jacques Cartier (1919-2010) in London during the mid-60s to early 70s, Roseberys (26/25% buyer’s premium) sold two good Cartier London watches on February 5.
An early Dutch puritan keeps up with Henry Jones
10 March 2025Among the earliest watches in the auction titled Clocks & Watches Through the Ages held at TW Gaze (26.4% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Diss, Norfolk, on March 4 was a Dutch timekeeper from the first half the 17th century.
Previews: Six watches offered at upcoming auctions
10 March 2025A selection of stand-out watch lots coming up at sales around the UK
Jeweller Auguste Dutertre found his niche concealing watch movements in ornate cases
10 March 2025Based in workshops near the Place des Bergues in Geneva in the 1850s-60s, the jeweller Auguste Dutertre (1798-1866) found a niche making so-called ‘bijoux à montres’ - watch movements concealed in notebooks, powder-boxes or, as here, a pair of lorgnettes.
Watches: Wellington’s gift to opera singer rumoured to be his mistress
10 March 2025A gold and enamel Dent pocket watch given by Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, to the Italian opera singer Giuseppina Grassini surfaced for sale at an auction in Austria
Martinware Brothers stoneware: a case of sophisticated simplicity
10 March 2025Stoneware vases and jugs from the famed Martin Brothers also show their sense of style and character
Whitefriars glass collectors drive prices upwards in Bedford sale
06 March 2025By the time glass designer Geoffrey Baxter (1922-95) died his contribution to the Whitefriars story had already assumed cult status and a collecting hierarchy had developed.
Memento of the Australian gold rush brings major competition in Devon
05 March 2025Among the earliest examples of Australian gold rush jewellery are the simple signet rings sold to miners in the settlement of Ballarat in the 1850s as a memento of the boomtown days.
Lavery portrait of his wife and daughter makes six-figure sum in Essex
04 March 2025An intimate work by Irish artist Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) has sold for £360,000 at Sworders.
Stand out pieces of Sèvres spotted at New York auction
04 March 2025An exceptional pair of Louis Philippe period Sèvres hard paste porcelain vases has been unearthed in upstate New York.
Pocket watches with historical back-stories bring demand in Exeter auction
03 March 2025The latest silver and jewellery sale at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (26/25% buyer’s premium) in Exeter included two Georgian 18ct gold pocket watches from two generations of the Drummond family.
Rare Victorian mineral water bottle makes a refreshing result
03 March 2025A rare English mineral water bottle sold for £19,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at Griff in’s Auctioneers in Warwick on February 25.
Plates once rated as rarities on Antiques Roadshow demonstrate that delftware ‘still has a following’
03 March 2025Two English Delftware plates, described on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow a decade ago as “as rare as you can get”, went under the hammer at Woolley & Wallis (26% buyer’s premium) on February 5.