What: A Graff ring with a 43.59ct radiant-cut ‘fancy intense yellow’ diamond c.2014
Where: Fellows, Birmingham, December 7
Story: Yellow diamonds get their extraordinary fiery colour from the inclusion of nitrogen atoms during their creation. Dealer Laurence Graff is credited with generating the surge in their popularity in the 1970s. This ring posted the first seven-figure bid at a regional saleroom since 2012
Price: £1.1m + 23% premium
A Victorian silver snuff box by Hilliard & Thomason of Birmingham engraved with a view of East Cliff Lodge in Ramsgate – £40,000 at Matthew Barton, 25 Blythe Road, London.
What: A Victorian silver snuff box by Hilliard & Thomason of Birmingham engraved with a view of East Cliff Lodge in Ramsgate
Where: Matthew Barton, 25 Blythe Road, London, May 24
Story: East Cliff Lodge is best associated with the financier and philanthropist Sir Moses Haim Montefiore (1784-1885). His crest appears to this box. Barton told ATG that “its primary appeal was its close ties with a seminal figure in British Jewish history“
Price: £40,000 + 22% premium
‘The Yellow Jersey’ by William Nicholson – £150,000 at Thomas R Callan in Ayrshire.
What:The Yellow Jersey by William Nicholson (1872-1949), oil on canvas, signed and dated 1913
Where: Thomas R Callan, Trump Turnberry Hotel, Ayrshire, November 19
Story: The young woman in the picture is thought to be Nicholson’s only daughter, Annie Mary ‘Nancy’ (1899-1978), in an ostrich plume hat. This oil had been exhibited at Nicholson’s second show in the Goupil Galleries, London, in 1918 and again in Liverpool in 1927
Price: £150,000 + 17.5% premium
A poster for the 1939 film ‘Stagecoach’ – £31,000 at Rogers Jones, Cardiff.
What: A poster for the 1939 film Stagecoach
Where: Rogers Jones, Cardiff, September 15
Story: This rare survivor from the film that catapulted John Wayne to fame was among a 70-lot cache of cinema posters discovered by builders 32 years ago during the renovation of a house in Penarth. It sold to a buyer in Texas via thesaleroom.com
Price: £31,000 + 20% premium
Emanuele Caroni’s (1826-76) marble sculpture of cupid taming the lion – £91,000 at Fieldings, Stourbridge.
What: Emanuele Caroni’s (1826-76) marble sculpture of cupid taming the lion signed and dated 1867
Where: Fieldings, Stourbridge, September 12
Story: A house record for the choice lot among the contents of Wordsley Manor, a George II house built for Black Country industrialist John Holt which now sits in a one-and-a-half-acre plot in suburban Stourbridge
Price: £91,000 + 24% premium
A Rolex Oyster Perpetual Milgauss stainless steel bracelet watch c.1958 – £110,000 at Fellows, Birmingham.
What: A Rolex Oyster Perpetual Milgauss stainless steel bracelet watch c.1958
Where: Fellows, Birmingham, November 29
Story: The market for vintage ‘tool’ watches continues to burn hot. The Milgauss was designed specifically for those who worked in power plants, medical facilities and research labs where electromagnetic fields can cause havoc with the timing of a watch
Price: £110,000 + 23% premium
Jaiqing (1796-1820) mark and period altar vase – £252,000 at Lawrences, Crewkerne.
What: A 10in (26cm) benbaping, Jaiqing (1796-1820) mark and period
Where: Lawrences, Crewkerne, January 19
Story: After 30 years on a Wiltshire mantelpiece, this altar vase – commissioned by the Qing court for ceremonial use in palaces and temples – was consigned for sale by the descendant of a solicitor who worked in Shanghai in the early 20th century. The auctioneers catalogued it cautiously as Republican period
Price: £252,000 + 22% premium
What: A 6in (15cm) soft-paste porcelain mug painted with the armorial of the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers and to the base with the initials MWE and the date Jan’ 1757
Where: Stacey’s, Rayleigh, Essex, September 18
Story: Documentary pieces of early English porcelain always command a premium. A consensus emerged that this chipped and cracked mug discovered in a local routine probate assessment was from the Bow factory
Price: £18,000 + 20% premium
