Clocks, Watches & Jewellery

Fancy committing to abstaining from “gaming, drinking, fornication” for a whole seven years?

MADAM – Reading about the unfortunate theft of a Handley & Moore bracket clock from the shop of Patrick Sandberg on Kensington Church Street on February 3 (ATG No 2429) reminded me of the clock (pictured below) that had sadly been stolen from my parents’ home in Burford, Oxfordshire, in 1984.

Time is of the essence in the story of Speed Menefee (1879-1968), the shortest-serving city mayor in US history – and original owner of a pocket watch offered at the Chester Decorative Antiques & Art Fair.

Falling short of ambitious hopes but leading the day at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) first sale of 2020 was a fine English Golden Age longcase clock.

Police issue description of suspect after solitaires stolen from Surrey saleroom

This opal, diamond, enamel and 18ct yellow gold choker, c.1898, is textbook René Lalique (1860-1945).

Estimated at £2000-3000, this French gold and enamel bracelet set with seven oval carved hardstone intaglios sold for £8500 (plus 20% buyer premium) at Henry Adams of Chichester on January 16.

Chiswick Auctions will offer a single-owner collection of memorabilia relating to the second generation English Romantic poet, George Gordon Byron (1788-1824).

From 1969-99 there were more than 20 different references to the Tudor Oyster Prince Submariner with numerous variations.

John Benjamin reviews the sale of an exceptional collection of desk clocks and Cartier jewels at Bonhams.

This pair of silver and enamel cufflinks with the royal cypher of George VI comes in a presentation box by Plante of Bury Street, London.

The Omega Seamaster 300 ranks among the most desirable of all diving watches.

This intriguing rock crystal pendant may have been used as a ‘charmstone’. It follows the same form as the famous Glenorchy Charmstone in the National Museums of Scotland and may too have once adorned an early reliquary.

Lambertsville, New Jersey, auction house Rago/Wright is to launch a new sale category on February 12 titled 'Studio Jewelry 1900-Present'.

Glyphic art was one of the success stories of 2019. The return to collecting fashion of this once dusty academic field is bringing more hardstone gems to the market.

According to a popular story, alexandrite, one of the three main varieties of chrysoberyl, was discovered in the Urals by the Finnish mineralogist Nils Gustaf Nordenskiöld (1792-1866) and named in honour of the future Tsar Alexander II of Russia.

This ‘Black Forest’ type clock on the theme of hunting is signed by Swiss master carver Johann Huggler of Brienz (1834-1912).