Auctions

Tiffany exhibited only gold jewellery at the 1878 Paris exposition, including a collection of ‘Japanesque’ pieces.

This 18ct two-colour gold and enamel Hebe brooch to a design by Georges Braque, c.1962, carries an estimate of $2500-3500 at Leslie Hindman’s Important Jewelry sale in Chicago on December 3.

Anteo Subastas in San Sebastian, Spain, is offering an example of a Mexican colonial silver devotional altarpiece in its next auction on November 28.

In the end, it was diamonds, not cake, that triggered the tragic downfall of Marie-Antoinette (1755-93) and her family. Even though the doomed queen was innocent of conspiracy, it was the affair of a diamond necklace that lit the powder-keg of revolution.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Fontaine’s in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, is holding one of its periodic horological auctions on November 17.

One of just 100 first edition copies of National Golf Links of America by Charles Blair MacDonald was the top lot in a recent US golf sale at $15,000 (£11,450).

Art Richelieu Castor-Hara is offering a single-owner French collection featuring Old Masters and modern paintings, and classic furniture in a sale at Drouot.

MADAM – May I make a plea, through your publication, for auction houses to be aware of the damage sticky lot labels can do to the delicate water gilding on the frames of paintings.

Among the many versions of the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner, the reference 5508 with its James Bond association is perhaps the best known.

A recent online sale that ran to just 35 lots and closed on October 25 offered a single-owner collection of works by the Victorian explorer and writer, Sir Richard Burton.

This diamond and sapphire tiara, which is to be offered for sale by Bruun Rasmussen on November 30 in Copenhagen, has a long and distinguished Danish royal provenance.

The Scottish gun-making workshop of Doune in Perthshire produced pistols that were a firearm of choice for highland clansmen but were also favoured by wealthy socialites.

Artcurial has made something of a habit of offering parts of the Eiffel Tower, pieces that were removed as part of periodic restorations of the famous landmark on the Paris skyline.

The Fine Jewellery and Watches auction at Sworders of Stansted Mountfitchet on November 20 will include this Cartier Art Deco rose-cut diamond, black and white enamel and seed pearl-set pendant watch, c.1915.

A North-west Coast Tlingit pipe in the form of a bear will be offered at an upcoming auction in Boston.

The sale titled California Jewelry held by Doyle in New York on November 19 includes some fine period pieces sourced by the Manhattan firm via its West Coast office.

This novel 14ct gold, cabochon emerald, diamond, and ruby brooch by Van Cleef & Arpels carries an estimate of $5000-7000 at Skinner of Boston’s sale of Important Jewelry on December 4.

Sold for £1900 in a recent London sale was an 1892 first of Experiments with Alternate Currents of High Potential and High Frequency – a record for this particular work.

Veritas will offer a Jiajing armorial dish (c.1530-50) in its next auction in Lisbon on November 27-29.