Brooch

Gold rush era jewellery from Down Under is a rare visitor to UK salerooms but, remarkably, several pieces have appeared for sale in recent months.

Pictured here are two exceptional pieces of Art Deco jewellery sold by Christie’s Paris (25% buyer’s premium) for multi-estimate sums on December 4.

Sapphires have been mined in Burma (now Myanmar) for over a millennium, the stones admired for their colour saturation and dark hues.

A number of works designed by some of the biggest names in the Wiener Werkstatte association are to be offered in the Jugendstil auction at Dorotheum on December 12. Among them are two brooches designed by Josef Hoffmann.

The Charterhouse two-day November 15-16 auction in Sherborne includes a substantial selection of jewellery and watches.

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.

This well-preserved medieval annular brooch set with cabochon rubies and sapphires is a rare survivor from the 14th century.

This agate, enamel and gemset cameo brooch carved with the profile of a classical maiden is signed verso for Georges Bissinger.

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.

Main stage at the design auction at Dorotheum in Vienna on May 30 is taken by jewellery designed by Josef Hoffmann, one of the leading lights of the Wiener Werkstätte.

Unsigned, but breathing the name of one of the leaders of the Arts & Crafts movement in Scotland, this enamel panel and unmarked silver brooch sold for £5500 at Greenslade Taylor Hunt (19.5% buyer’s premium) in Taunton.

This Victorian turquoise and diamond brooch is inscribed verso 'Had Belonged to Dear Grandmamma V. From Mama VR, 14th April 1871'. To Beatrice. It carries an estimate of £3000-5000 at Tennants in Leyburn on November 18.

Seven phone bidders competed for this 15th century gold heart-shaped brooch, a medieval gift of love from the time of the Wars of the Roses, at Hansons in Derbyshire.