Ian Harris is retiring and N Bloom & Son is closing.
The sale at Stride & Son in Chichester on March 3 features just over 200 pieces of Harris’ jewellery stock, including many signed pieces. Much of it he bought before shutting the doors to his final ‘bricks and mortar’ shop in 2005.
N Bloom & Son was opened by Nathan Bloom (Harris’ grandfather) in 1912.
Harris joined the firm in 1953 at age 16, taking over completely in 1971. Initially the dealership focused on silver, but after a few months at its first shop in Albemarle Street, London, Harris suggested adding jewellery to the window to attract lady customers. It soon became the leading part of the business.
Among the lots to be offered at Stride & Son by Ian Harris is this gold, platinum and diamond bicycle lapel pin, c.1910, with an estimate of £750- 1000.
Over the years the shop moved to Bond Street, Conduit Street, Bond Street Antiques Arcade and eventually to a small shop in the Piccadilly Arcade which closed in 2005. He continued to deal online.
Harris is a familiar face from BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, which he joined at the beginning in 1979, and he has since been part of a Roadshow team on lecture cruises around the world.
“I decided it was time to cash it in,” Harris said. “I am 84 and a half and it’s time to call it a day.”
