December Sparkles
Designer Watches & Stunning Jewels Make December Sparkle
The penultimate sale of the year for Lyon & Turnbull, the Select Jewellery & Watches auction held on the 10 December, had been anticipated for some time. After an extensive viewing tour that took in Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and America, and despite a somewhat wintery Edinburgh day, it certainly did not disappoint.
Achieving in excess of half a million pounds the sale saw success stories throughout. Lot 2, a beautiful pair of Art Deco diamond and platinum set earrings saw eager competitive bidding which helped them exceed their estimate and finally achieve £7,250, and set the tone for the rest of the sale.
From the beautiful period pieces, to the fresh contemporary jewellery, lot 45 a contemporary diamond set necklace and its matching bracelet, lot 46, had been well viewed in the lead up to the sale, and their popularity saw them realise £31,250 collectively. Signed jewellery was also popular on the day, with a beautiful emerald and diamond bracelet by luxury jewellers Van Cleef & Arpels achieving £25,000.
Other highlights included the collection of jewellery from the estate of Lady Mary Stewart, the famous Scottish author of historical romance novels. Her 18ct gold Cartier Camellia brooch was a favourite amongst bidders, and exceeded its estimate at £6,250, which was a similar story for her unique Cartier yellow and colourless diamond ring which went for £11,500.
Closing the sale was the collection of fine wristwatches from the estate of Andrew McMillian, Baron of Cleghorn. The collection included names such as IWC, Omega, Rolex and Jaeger Le Coultre, the collection as a whole achieved in excess of £150,000. The highlight of which was an IWC Grande Complication 1992, numbered 11 of 50, which sold in excess of £63,000 (illustrated above).
UPCOMING AUCTION
Our next Select Jewellery & Watches sale will take place in the Summer of 2015, entries will be invited until the end of March 2015.