London

Sotheby’s €7m sale of the original Hermès Birkin handbag, custom made for late actress and singer Jane Birkin in 1985, has given some welcome exposure to the market for preloved luxury accessories. And for many of today’s collectors, vintage is best.

With a trio of leading dealers bringing the best of British horology, the Treasure House Fair has become a focus for the clock trade, just as Grosvenor House and Masterpiece were before it.

A previously unrecorded Elizabethan gold and enamel signet ring, a gift from the influential Tudor financier and merchant, Sir Thomas Gresham (1519-79), sold for £42,000 at Noonans (24% buyer’s premium).

Crowning the summer jewellery sales was the spectacular Cartier London turquoise and diamond tiara from 1930 offered by Bonhams (28/27/21/14.5% buyer’s premium).

For a sector often tainted by an inadequate supply of fresh and top-draw material, the latest series of Old Master auctions in London certainly had moments where the core market woes seemed mysteriously absent.

Winsor Birch set out in the spring to put together a collection of exceptional works from three centuries of British art. It appears it succeeded.

Three portraits that came fresh to the market with an unbroken provenance drew strong interest at Bonhams’ latest Old Master auction in London.

A Chaumet Art Deco white gold, rock crystal, diamond and ruby lapel clip brooch seen in a 1990s episode of Antiques Roadshow reappeared at a recent Roseberys (26/25/20% buyer’s premium) jewellery auction in West Norwood, London.

A watercolour by JMW Turner was one of the standout sales at the inaugural edition of Classic Art London (CAL).

On July 23 London-based specialist coin and medal auction house Morton & Eden is offering a complete set of 56 Umayyad gold dinars dating from years 77 to 132 in the Hijra calendar (696-750AD).

Exhibition titled 'Fear Gives Wings to Courage' celebrates a century of art dealing on London thoroughfare

Among the events debuting in London this summer was the one-day ‘fair’ Studiolo.

Works by two of the biggest names in art history put in a strong performance at the latest series of Old Master auctions in London.