Clocks, Watches & Jewellery

Breathing quality, this 22ct gold, pocket watch, below, was by an apparently unrecorded maker but nevertheless pitched at a positive £3000-3200 at Tamlyns’ (18% buyer’s premium) sale at Bridgwater on August 30.

The sale at Fellows (23/15% buyer’s premium) in Birmingham on July 31 included this Arts & Crafts pendant designed by Charles Robert Ashbee (1862-1942).

This 19th century gold, turquoise and peridot pomander is exceptional both in terms of size and quality.

A sapphire and diamond coronet designed by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria in 1840 has been ’saved for the nation’ after its purchase for the London’s Victoria and Albert Museum.

A 1920s-30s 18ct gold Cartier cigarette lighter-cum-watch with black enamel dial was offered at Boningtons (17.5% buyer’s premium) at Epping on August 21.

Seven phone bidders competed for this 15th century gold heart-shaped brooch, a medieval gift of love from the time of the Wars of the Roses, at Hansons in Derbyshire.

A horological story rarely makes the national news, but the announcement that Big Ben is falling silent until 2021 as major conservation work begins rang loud and clear in headlines.

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

Thieves in Chipping Campden have struck at the core of the Court Barn Museum’s collection of Arts & Crafts silver and jewellery.

Possibly made for a member of the French monarchy, this post-medieval gold ring combines the heraldic fleur-de-lis motif with blue kite-shaped sapphires.

Charlotte Roper – “strictly a champagne girl” – started Plaza Jewellery in the mid 1980s. She specialises in French and European jewellery with a particular focus on pieces from the 1940s-‘60s. Her upcoming fairs include the Cotswolds Decorative Fair.

In our continuing series looking through the keyhole of ‘bricks and mortar’ shops, ATG talks to Mark Coxhead. He works at Gutlin Clocks, a 22-year-old father and son family business specialising in buying, selling and repairing antique clocks.

What is selling well in the clocks and watches world? Dealer Warren Wilkinson, who has been collecting and repairing clocks and watches for 40 years and who is a regular standholder at Love Fairs events, is a good man to answer that very question.

Paul Kembery of Kembery Antique Clocks in the West Country is a regular exhibitor at Antiques for Everyone and will stand at the upcoming edition.