Jewellery

Matthew Adams is moving into bling – well, vintage and antique jewellery from the Georgian period onwards.

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.

A selection of glittering items on offer in English auctions.

Creative flair combined with a maverick approach to metalwork set Louis Osman (1914-96) apart from other British designers of the post-war era.

Characterised by high-quality craftsmanship, a bold use of colour plus a love of whimsy, the menagerie of gem-set or enamel animal designs are particularly recognisable as signature Kutchinsky pieces.

An old photo of a former owner and a memorial inscription will seldom add commercial value to a Victorian locket. However, the example by the Phillips Brothers of Cockspur Street offered by Mallams (20% buyer’s premium) in Oxford on March 21 carried the inscription 'Julia Hay Norman, Died 3rd October 1873'.

“They were as bold, diverse, and brave as René Lalique and his peers had been in the 1900s, bucking convention and tradition to change the landscape of British jewellery.”

Unlike other European jewellers, where designers and makers were often shrouded in anonymity, the Georg Jensen Co promoted its craftspeople and encouraged them to become names in their own right.

An iconographic gold ring – perhaps once belonging to a bishop or senior member of the clergy in the Yorkshire area – sold for £7100 at Hansons (20% buyer’s premium) in Etwall, Derbyshire.

A set of five Victorian diamond six-point star brooches sold for £26,000 at Golding Young & Mawer (20% buyer’s premium) on January 24. As each star has a hook fitting and a screw fitting for attachment, the set was probably once part of a suite consisting of frames for a tiara, necklace, earrings and brooches.

The December 6 jewellery sale at Roseberys (23% buyer’s premium) was the maiden auction for new head of department Mark Bowis.

Contemporary jewellery designer Wendy Ramshaw’s earlier work, including her signature ring stacks first made in 1967, is coming back onto the market.

Jewellery specialist Joanna Hardy is usually found in glamorous locations.