Jewellery

For previous generations of artist jewellers, from René Lalique to Andrew Grima, retail sales and private commissions were everything. Typically it was only much later in the collecting lifecycle, after a period of posthumous reassessment and rediscovery, that their work appeared at auction with any great regularity.

Dendritic agate – a pale chalcedony with treelike inclusions caused by traces of iron or manganese – is a relatively lowly stone but was a favourite of Russian jewellers in particular. Carl Fabergé used it in many pieces in a country where it is considered a stone of longevity, good health and prosperity.

A selection of stand-out jewellery lots from regional auctions.

The collection of Tiffany jewels offered by Christie’s New York (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) on June 20 was the finest at auction in recent memory.

Bonhams’ (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) sale in Knightsbridge on June 14 included a group of pieces attributed to the British Arts & Crafts jeweller and designer Dorrie Nossiter (1893-1977).

Stealing all the headlines at Sotheby’s (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) Fine Jewels sale in London on June 7 was the £540,000, 26ct ’tenner’ diamond, bought by the vendor at a boot fair in the 1980s. However, among the 370 lots were items with more illustrious provenances.

Tiaras have enjoyed a surge in popularity in recent years, particularly in Russia and the Baltic States where jeans and a diamond fascinator are de rigueur at informal high-society events.

Indian design was a prolific influence in Carlo Giuliano’s style. Already seen at the 1851 Great Exhibition, interest in technicolour jewellery from the sub-continent rose to new levels when Victoria became Empress of India in 1876.

This medieval gold posy ring with a Lombardic inscription is a type that was common in England and France in the 13th and early 14th centuries. After around 1350, Gothic script became popular.

Jewellery and silver items on offer in London this summer from auction houses and dealers.

A snake ring made by Clyde for Bonnie heads RR Auctions' memorabilia sale on June 22

The jewellery sale at Il Ponte in Milan on May 17-18 will include items with provenance to a number of Italian aristocratic families.

The rivière – one of the most popular and enduring styles of necklace to come out of the Georgian period – features an endless line of matched or subtly graduated gems set within inconspicuous collets. However, as Marielle Whiting at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury points out, seldom are they equals.