Clocks, Watches & Jewellery

Forthcoming jewellery auction highlights at home and abroad – from the first ‘smart’ watch to the first female mayor in the British Empire.

Far more fluent in the language of jewellery and stones, the Georgians and Victorians would have immediately made the link between snakes and eternal love. The ouroboros – a serpent swallowing its own tail – was commonly understood as a symbol of eternity.

A remarkable collection of early rings was offered by Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) in Etwall, Derbyshire, this summer.

His daring organic sculptural designs re-energised the British jewellery scene in post-war Britain. Now Andrew Grima’s (1921-2007) creations are leading the revival of 1960s and ‘70s designer jewellery on the secondary market.

Ahead of its season-opening September 18 jewellery sale, Chiswick Auctions invited Jessica Diamond, the suitably-named jewellery editor for 'Condé Nast Traveller', to pick her top 10 lots from the catalogue.

Jewellery is the single biggest element of the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair (September 13-19), with 13 specialist dealers and a handful of others who will include items of personal adornment alongside decorative arts or antiquities.

A demi-parure of mid-18th century Swedish gold jewellery offered by Brightwells (22% buyer’s premium) in Leominster was accompanied by a painted portrait miniature of the original owner wearing the set. The miniature, although uninscribed, was dated 1845.

Paul Pfanner runs Timewise Vintage Watches and next exhibits at the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair (September 14-19).

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

A major collection of late 19th and early 20th century jewellery amassed by a Buckinghamshire collector over half a century will come to auction this autumn.

Private bidders were overtaken as dealers found warmth in the best traditional furniture and chattels offered at auction.

Chosen as the front-cover illustration to Paul Atterbury and John Benjamin’s 'The Jewellery and Silver of HG Murphy' (2005), this gemset pendant also provided Woolley & Wallis’ latest Jewellery and Watches sale with its showcase lot.

Over 20 years ago, leading art and antiques dealers in the picturesque Bavarian city of Bamberg came up with the idea of holding a coordinated summer sales exhibition.