Clocks, Watches & Jewellery

An impressive 19th century longcase regulator attracted several bidders at a sale held by Metz (28/25% buyer’s premium) in Heidelberg.

Nineteenth century French creation features Fall of Phaeton Greek myth

Star lot of a section of a recent Neumeister’s (30/27/25% buyer’s premium) auction in Munich devoted to the legacy of Alexander Eugen, Duke of Württemberg, who died last year at the age of 91, was literally one of the eyecatchers.

Archibald Knox (1864-1933) is known today as the genius behind the Cymric and Tudric ranges sold by Liberty & Co in the early 20th century.

When Anthony Bernbaum curated the exhibition Archibald Knox, Beauty and Modernity, a Designer Ahead of his Time at the Olympia International Art & Antiques Fair in 2014, he was working in investment banking.

Among 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.

‘Tutti Frutti’ is the name given to Cartier’s range of brightly coloured jewels in the Indian style from the 1920s-30s.

A white-glove sale tells its own story about the health of a market

Carl (1883-1946) and Rosa Askonas (1891-1980), were the toast of 1920s Austrian society.

The Fine Jewellery sale at Dreweatts (26% buyer’s premium) in Newbury on March 19 included two quite different lots from the subcontinent - and both were well received.

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

Metal-detecting finds, properly reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme and since disclaimed as Treasure, are increasing significantly the supply of pre-Georgian jewels. Some fine examples have appeared at auction of late.

A Cartier Egyptian revival jewel, previously known only from an advert that appeared in The Illustrated London News in the 1920s, sold for £55,000 at Woolley & Wallis (26% buyer’s premium).

A Cartier necklace with a rare pink diamond was offered by Tennants (22% buyer’s premium) of North Yorkshire on March 15. It sold towards top hopes at £190,000.

The next LAPADA Berkeley Square Fair will partner with luxury jewellery ‘collective’ Haute Jewels.

The French inventor André Romain Guilmet (1827-92) took out many patents for his ingenious designs including in 1868 the idea for a driving chain on a bicycle.

The revocation of the Edict of Nantes by the French king Louis XIV in 1685 led to the massive exodus of Huguenots, many of whom moved to Great Britain.