Jewellery

Whether captivated by exquisite jewellery or the clean lines and tactile allure of British studio pottery, the V&A’s two summer exhibitions are not to be missed

Oxfordshire sale includes minaudière designed as an alternative to traditional handbags - plus a more conventional ‘French Jazz Age’ evening bag

This impressive array of costume jewellery sold in Paris showcased the work of half a century and seven creative directors of the Dior brand.

Cartier’s aquamarine jewellery appears to have been predominantly produced from the London workshop starting in 1932.

While Whitby jet was particularly fashionable during the reign of Victoria, it had been a popular material for jewellery from the Romano British period onwards.

The sale of Fine Jewellery & Ladies Watches at Adam’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Dublin on May 13 included an impressive retro sapphire and diamond ‘tank’ ring, c.1940, that came for sale from the ‘private collection of a Continental lady’.

In the 1920s-30s, the Scottish-born goldsmith Sybil Dunlop (1889- 1968) presided over a workshop in London’s Kensington Church Street dressed in a kaftan and Russian fur boots.

Bonhams’ London Jewels sale on June 5 features a spectacular Cartier turquoise and diamond tiara that comes by descent from Nancy, Viscountess Astor (1879-1964).

This large diamond, sapphire and emerald peacock feather brooch was the highlight of a recent Fine Jewellery sale held at Fellows (25% buyer’s premium) in Birmingham.

Among the highlights of a recent jewellery sale held by Mallams (25% buyer’s premium) in Oxford was this mid-to late-19th century amethyst parure.

A previously unrecorded Elizabethan gold signet ring, a gift from the influential Tudor financier and merchant, Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-79), comes for sale at Noonans on June 17.

This Victorian acrostic gold, hardstone and paste necklace, probably made in Rome c.1890, sold for £3800 (estimate £2000-3000) at Olympia Auctions’ (25% buyer’s premium) Jewellery & Watches sale on May 22.

The Jewellery department at Fellows Auctioneers in Birmingham is celebrating three new qualifications for its team.

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.