Jewellery

In the art and antiques market, the jewellery category spans the millennia from ancient artefacts fit for Cleopatra herself to modern branded wares by famous French and American ateliers. This may include objects of significant intrinsic worth – valued for the gemstones and precious metals from which they were made – but also objects fashioned from more humble materials that are appreciated simply for the excellence of their design.


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Parure produced in Princes Street Edinburgh sells well south of the border

02 June 2025

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.

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Grasshopper ring bound to attract attention as a Tudor gift

02 June 2025

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.

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Necklace boosted by a fascinating backstory

02 June 2025

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.

Piprahwa Gems

Sotheby’s halts sale of Piprahwa Gems after protest from Indian government

07 May 2025

Following opposition from the Indian state, Sotheby's took the 11th hour decision to cancel a Hong Kong auction of a collection of relics linked to the historical Buddha.

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Education, education, education at Fellows

05 May 2025

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

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Bidders eye up ducal armband

21 April 2025

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.

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On island time – the Archibald Knox story

14 April 2025

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.

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The Olympia exhibition that led to a dealing career

14 April 2025

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.

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Rings gave miners a memento of the Australian gold rush

07 April 2025

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.

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Cartier Tutti Frutti pin buyer nails at at £15,000

31 March 2025

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

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Fabergé - always providing great provenances and wonderful histories

31 March 2025

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

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'Hidden in a skirt' to escape the Nazis, now sold at auction

31 March 2025

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

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Different jewels but both from the subcontinent

31 March 2025

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.

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The language of love and loss

31 March 2025

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.

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Discoveries unearthed by metal detectorists then treasured by bidders

31 March 2025

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.

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Cartier featured in The Illustrated London News advert hits the headlines

31 March 2025

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).

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The minute chance of mining a pink diamond

31 March 2025

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.

LAPADA fair will team up with luxury jewellery ‘collective’

17 March 2025

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

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19th century Indian gold bracelet is among five lots to watch

17 March 2025

With estimates from £150, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week

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Chaumet marriage trousseau more than matches auction expectations

10 March 2025

Tiara takes highest sum as jewellery supplied to an aristocratic family features in Paris sale

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