UK

As Portobello Road market dealers come under financial pressure following the lockdown, the owner of many of its arcades has defended its stance on rent payments.

In 1765 the engineer and entrepreneur Matthew Boulton (1728-1809) visited Paris, where he observed first-hand the workshops of bronziers and the wares that were proving hugely popular with Georgian Britain’s elite.

Tribal Art London has hired a new director to organise and lead the fair.

Over a century old, Cartier’s most famous watch is seemingly ubiquitous on the market. But pre-war examples of the Tank are scarcer than one might imagine.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

David Gilbert runs Driffold Gallery in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands.

The Heuer Monaco, the world’s first automatic chronograph with a square case, was launched at the Basel fair in 1969 with the retail price set at $200.

As the implementation of the Ivory Act 2018 draws closer, it is approaching closing time at the last-chance saloon for UK owners who wish to monetise Art Deco chryselephantine sculpture.

This ‘pre-Moon’ Omega Speedmaster purchased new in Berlin in 1960, came for sale at Aston’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Dudley on June 11.

This 18th century monumental royal coat of arms by John Steell is offered by Wick Antiques in its second edition of 'Britain and the High Seas' at 'Masterpiece', held online this year.

This placid picture 'At the Billet’s Open Window, San Severo' depicts a moment of quiet in the midst of war.

A rare ‘pocket watch’ sold by East Bristol Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) was more surveillance device than timekeeper.

A rare first edition of the first fully realised post-apocalyptic tale is on offer in Peter Harrington’s inaugural fantasy and science-fiction catalogue, 'In Other Worlds'.

An album of 12 early watercolour drawings of Australian Aborigines made a surprising £72,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium) at Forum Auctions in London.

Lemania is a name that should be as well-known as that of Omega or Tissot. The firm – dubbed by one watch blogger as ‘the greatest maker of watches that you may never have heard of’ – provided every single chronograph movement that those much better-known brands used until the 1970s.

A large collection of Bretby Art Pottery formed part of the final day of selling at a recent auction at Hansons’ Bishton Hall saleroom in Staffordshire.

As collectors are squeezed out of the market for watches by Rolex and Omega, prices for vintage chronographs by ‘lesser’ makers are steadily rising in value.

The Longines WWW is deemed the second rarest of the ‘Dirty Dozen’. These watches, made by 12 different Swiss brands, were ordered by the British Ministry of Defence during the tail-end of the Second World War for issue to army ground personnel.

The lockdown may have reduced the number of UK auctions taking place but buyers have been looking more eagerly for opportunities at those events that have been staged.