Jewellery

By the mid-20th century several design houses were taking a more playful approach to zoomorphic jewellery.

A selection of four upcoming jewellery lots including a necklace comprising 21 cameos and intaglios previously owned by the Duke of Wellington.

This Victorian snake necklace is one of the best of its kind to appear on the regional market in recent memory.

A selection of sapphires that drew interest at auction over the last two months

Sapphire mining at the Yogo Gulch in Montana began in 1895 after a cigar box of pale blue gems picked from a creek by a local rancher found its way to Tiffany’s in New York, where an appraiser pronounced them “the finest precious gemstones ever found in the United States”.

The career course of Edith Robinson (1862-1929), a London art teacher and painter of chocolate box watercolours was changed in 1893 when she and her new husband, the Stamford artist Nelson Dawson (1859-1941) attended a series of lectures given by the enameller Alexander Fisher.

It was second time lucky for a 17th century ring made to commemorate the death of King Charles I.

Nearly 200 items of Al Capone memorabilia are coming to the market for the first time after being consigned to a California auction by his granddaughters.

The central stone to this Art Deco seed pearl and diamond pendant is an elongated cushion-shaped pink sapphire, weighing about 25ct.

The Hôtel des Ventes de Monte Carlo (25/23/20% buyer’s premium) held a sale series this summer that featured auctions devoted to jewellery, watches and accessories, antiquities and modern art.

Simon MacLachlan owns and runs Piccadilly Vaults, a relative newcomer to the fine jewellery scene based in London’s Piccadilly Arcade. Founded in 2017, it is named after the wall of working bank vaults installed in the basement.

Gold wedding rings belonging to poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes have been bought by London jeweller Wartski.

Humphrey Butler has announced the rediscovery of a bracelet from the famed suite of sapphire and diamond jewels made for a young Queen Victoria.

A quintessential example of avant-garde Art Deco jewellery by a French designer who was renowned for such modernist pieces was the toast of Christie’s (25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) online Jewellery sale in Paris which closed on July 7.

While prices and interest have been declining in desk sets since computer laptops rendered them largely redundant, there are exceptions.

The appeal of this bracelet hung with eight enamel charms depicting Snow White and Seven Dwarfs lies in its Disney subject matter and its association with Cartier.

An episode of BBC Antiques Roadshow filmed at Windermere and broadcast in February included this 18ct gold and pearl necklace by HG Murphy.