Clocks, Watches & Jewellery

The medium of jewellery provided perhaps the greatest canvas for the new international style that flowed through the decorative arts around the turn of the 20th century.

Jewellery provided one of the great expressions of the Art Nouveau style. Here ATG reports on four exceptional items made in four different countries in the early years of the 20th century

Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) – the first actress to achieve worldwide celebrity – continues to command attention as her work on stage and screen fades into the distant past.

This George III mourning ring is engraved 'W’m Tipping, aged 17, died 23 Aug, 1792'. He drowned while bathing in the sea at Blackpool.

Interest in glyphic art, that reached its collecting apogee during Grand Tour collecting, is resurgent once more.

Not only does this Dutch 18ct gold and white carnelian demi-parure c.1820 include a period case but the original handwritten invoice from 1824 survives.

The hunger among buyers to acquire good quality jewellery stayed strong during lockdown, writes John Benjamin.

Among the many successful online-only jewellery auctions that took place during the lockdown was that held by Bromley-based saleroom Catherine Southon (18% buyer’s premium), writes John Benjamin.

Archaeological discoveries were a continuous source of inspiration for jewellery in the 19th century. Ancient goldsmithing techniques were studied and relearned. Jewels found during excavations of Roman, Egyptian, Hellenistic and particularly Etruscan sites were copied or reinterpreted.

Georges Lenfant is one of the many unsung titans of the jewellery trade – a Paris workshop pioneering jewellery craftsmanship in the 20th century that produced jewels for the big brand names of the Place Vendôme, including Van Cleef & Arpels, Cartier and Mellerio dits Meller.

A recent sale at Dorotheum (28/25/22% buyer’s premium) in Vienna was topped by this spectacular diamond and aquamarine tiara-necklace by Cartier London.

The Etruscan revival, that followed in the wake of the discovery of ancient gold jewellery in the 1830s, was the first and most popular of all the historical styles embraced by jewellers of the Victorian period.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

This Danish silver, amber and agate brooch from c.1915 by Georg Jensen will feature in the art and design sale to be held by Freeman’s of Philadelphia on June 26.

Over a century old, Cartier’s most famous watch is seemingly ubiquitous on the market. But pre-war examples of the Tank are scarcer than one might imagine.

The Heuer Monaco, the world’s first automatic chronograph with a square case, was launched at the Basel fair in 1969 with the retail price set at $200.

This ‘pre-Moon’ Omega Speedmaster purchased new in Berlin in 1960, came for sale at Aston’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Dudley on June 11.

Around 20 years ago the owner of a mediaeval manor house in northern Europe made an exciting discovery when clearing out the moats of the fortified house.

A rare ‘pocket watch’ sold by East Bristol Auctions (18% buyer’s premium) was more surveillance device than timekeeper.

Lemania is a name that should be as well-known as that of Omega or Tissot. The firm – dubbed by one watch blogger as ‘the greatest maker of watches that you may never have heard of’ – provided every single chronograph movement that those much better-known brands used until the 1970s.