Clocks, Watches & Jewellery

Charlotte Morris Roper is at the helm of Plaza 20th Century Jewellery, a vintage jewellery business specialising in French and European items with a particular focus on the 1940s-60s.

Piaget launched its Polo wristwatch model in 1979.

The 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.

Salisbury saleroom holds specialist offering staged as part of a three-day sale as demand increases

Two Cartier brooches commissioned by Sir Stephen Courtauld for his wife have gone on display at Eltham Palace, eight months after they were sold at auction by Dreweatts in Newbury.

Jean-Eugène Robert-Houdin (1805-71) began to develop the very first mystery clocks in c.1830.

Chanel No 5 was perfected in the late summer and autumn of 1920 by the French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux.

In last week’s news story about auction house overall sales totals for 2024 (ATG No 2679) we said that the highest-value objects sold in the UK by any regional auction house last year were two Antonine over-lifesize busts of empresses which hammered at £600,000 each at Lyon & Turnbull.

An inheritance influenced Boston dealer duo to turn their collecting interest to a different market

Our selection of lots from 12 upcoming sales

A textbook example of British Arts & Crafts jewellery – a Guild of Handicraft peacock pendant necklace designed by Charles Robert Ashbee – sold for $35,000 (£28,100) in the US at the end of 2024.

A gold-mounted garnet intaglio ring depicting the handsome Greek youth Antinous was taken to a multi-estimate £24,000 at Busby’s (25/10% buyer’s premium), triggering speculation it might be one of the lost ancient Marlborough gems.

An unusual, slightly risky, but highly effective late 17th century alarm clock found a new owner at Dr Crott (25% buyer’s premium) in Mannheim.

A stand-out lot of Bellmans’ (25% buyer’s premium) biannual Fine Clocks auction on December 5 was a chronometer made for the 1874 British expedition to observe the transit of Venus.

Jewellery dating to c.1960 was once owned by well-known women in New York and Palm Beach

Nosheen Brohi runs jewellery dealership Fable & Windsor at Grays Antique Market in Davies Street, Mayfair