Clocks, Watches & Jewellery

In his diary entry for August 12, 1950, the German writer and Nobel Prize recipient Thomas Mann described a meeting with his daughter-in-law Gret, who had married his youngest son Michael in 1939, and her 10-year-old son Frido in a café in Innsbruck.

André Romain Guilmet’s industrial themed clocks, the epitome of Victorian ‘progress’, are an ever-popular series.

Natalie Smith owns Woodbridge Antiques in Suffolk and specialises in silver and jewellery.

A single-owner collection of watches assembled over many decades and spanning 500 years of horology was offered by Aguttes (25/23% buyer’s premium) in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris.

If horology is your passion then two events coming up will prove timely.

A couple of weeks after the Aguttes watches auction another collection in the same category went under the hammer in Paris.

Charles de Temple is much admired as a key figure in the British 1960s modernist movement – one of the designers who ushered bold and abstract jewellery to the forefront of fashion.

Among the eye-catchers at Wendl in Rudolstadt from October 27-29 is an example of the world’s first functioning lighter.

Archibald Knox’s work for Liberty & Co often drew on the rich cultural heritage of his native Isle of Man.

Literally the highlight of Halls’ (23% buyer’s premium) Autumn Sale was a hall lantern demonstrating showy high Victorian taste at its most confident.

The autumn season will bring a number of English Golden Age clocks by top makers to auction.

Proving that not all clocks need to sell for thousands to attract interest, this 19th century circular mantel clock sold at Stamford Auction Rooms (20% buyer’s premium) in Lincolnshire for £500 with an estimate of £50-£80.

‘Subject to changes in taste, a pandemic and the loss of key collectors, the market keeps ticking over’

Two late 19th century novelty clocks at Dreweatts achieved good results on September 6.

An area of specific current interest is high-quality English 19th century clocks with precision movements housed in carriage or mantel cases.

Not quite in step with contemporary interiors, French decorative clocks have had a lower profile at auction in recent times.

A selection of upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK and Ireland.