Diamonds and watches sparkle at £200,000 Shrewsbury auction

Leading the prices at Halls Fine Art’s successful fine art, antiques and jewellery auction in Shrewsbury was a 3.60ct single stone diamond ring from a Worcestershire seller which sold for £9,500 to an American buyer.

An 18ct gold and green tourmaline bracelet by noted 1960s silversmith and designer Tom Scott from a Herefordshire vendor found a new home for £3,600 while a 9ct gold cigarette case, hallmarked London 1958, made its mark at £3,100.

Other notable jewellery prices were £2,200 for an Art Deco style sapphire and diamond bracelet, £1,900 for an emerald and diamond brooch, £1,800 each for a graduated three stone diamond ring and a mid-20th century diamond bar brooch, £1,750 for a sapphire and diamond cluster pendant and £1,650 for a cased harlequin canteen of silver flatware.

Quality watches were again in high demand, continuing the strong trend at Halls Fine Art. Leading the way was a Rolex gentleman’s 18ct gold Oyster Perpetual Datejust bracelet watch at £5,200, followed by a Patek Philippe 18ct gold hunter pocket watch at £4,400.

An Omega gentleman’s 18ct gold Constellation bracelet watch, the same model gifted to Richard Burton by his then wife Elizabeth Taylor, sold for £4,000, while a Chanel lady’s 18ct gold diamond set Premiere bracelet watch made £2,900 and a Girard Perregaux gentleman’s 18ct gold bracelet watch found a new home at £2,500.

A rare pocket watch movement by famous 18th century London watch and clock maker Thomas Mudge (1717-’94) sold for £1,500. The outer gold case of the watch was donated to support Britain’s Second World War effort in 1941.

Maryanne Lineker-Mobberley, Halls Fine Art’s silver, jewellery and bijouterie specialist, was delighted with the sale result and noted the strong demand for designer, statement and stylish jewellery.

“Single stone diamond rings always do well if they are of good clarity, which this one was and it was pleasing to attract interest from American buyers,” she said. “I expected the Tom Scott bracelet to achieve a good price because chunky, designer jewellery from the 1960s and 1970s is currently very much in vogue with buyers.

“The auction result reflects the buoyant silver and jewellery market and we are now accepting entries for our next silver, jewellery and watches sale on September 11 and fine art, antiques and jewellery sale on October 9.”

Alexander Clement, Halls Fine Art’s watches and furniture specialist, was also pleased that his small selection of quality watches generated more than £35,000 in sales.

“Buyers were very selective but we had some really strong prices for the quality watches on offer which continues our successful run of auctions,” he said.

The current furniture market is even more selective but there were some notable results including a 19th century Dutch walnut, fruitwood and marquetry bombe display cabinet from a Shrewsbury seller which sold for £1,500.

Other leading furniture prices included £800 for a 19th century mahogany tavern clock by Simpson of Yarmouth, which came from a Telford company, £700 for a pair of rococo revival giltwood wall mirrors from Bewdley and £480 for a19th century metamorphic library chair from a Shrewsbury seller.