Auctioneers

Dr Anne Shannon would no doubt have admired these three pieces of turn of the century jewellery sold at UK regional salerooms in recent weeks.

An unusual entry to Hansons’ September auction in Teddington, south-west London, was a ‘diamond’ in the rough – an uncut 5ct crystal still in its original carrier stone.

This well-preserved medieval annular brooch set with cabochon rubies and sapphires is a rare survivor from the 14th century.

By the 1950s, as the global economic landscape improved, luxury was making a comeback and so too was the prolific use of diamonds in the jewellery of France’s premier ateliers.

The Charterhouse two-day November 15-16 auction in Sherborne includes a substantial selection of jewellery and watches.

Alongside living with bushmen in Africa, visiting 33 native tribes in Brazil and riding the length of the Great Wall of China, the Cornish-based explorer Robin Hanbury-Tenison (b.1936) also found time to pursue another passion – one much closer to home.

Work by the community of mid-20th century painters in Essex known as the Great Bardfield Artists fetches strong sums on the secondary market.

The sale of the Anne Shannon collection of British and Continental designer jewellery will live long in the memory.

Woolley & Wallis followed the Shannon collection with a mixed-owner sale on November 1. Together the auctions brought a premium-inclusive £2.1m.

Heritage Auctions’ Fine Jewelry Signature sale in New York on December 3 includes two rings by London-based designer and virtuoso goldsmith Elizabeth Gage.