The Jewellery section in our Fine Art sales typically does well, but our 19th August sale achieved hammer prices beyond expectations. We had 202 Jewellery lots in the sale, with estimates ranging from £40-60 up to £8,000-10,000 for a 3 carat diamond solitaire, meaning there was something in the section for just about all budgets. Unfortunately the solitaire went unsold, one of only nine unsold lots in the jewellery section, but the rest of the jewellery flew out the door! Is this a continuation of the buying trends from lockdown, great gold prices on the day, or just a bunch of buyers looking for and finding some lovely jewellery to buy? Probably a combination of all of the above!

Our most watched lot in the sale was in the jewellery section, Lot 185, “A Gentleman’s International Watch Co. Ingenieur wristwatch, the silvered dial with Arabic numerals and batons and date aperture at 3, on a steel strap, 37mm diameter, together with a Tavannes wristwatch”, with over 45 people adding it to their “wish list” on the bidding platform, lots of people emailing to ask for condition reports and multiple telephone lines being booked. On the day it didn’t disappoint, with a starting estimate of £800-1,200, lot 185 achieved a hammer price of £2,800 for our undoubtedly happy vendor!

Overall, bidding was so strong for the jewellery section of the sale, with lot after lot exceeding estimates, that we ended up significantly behind our estimated schedule for the day, not that anyone was complaining!

Jewellery section of the sale (does not include watches)