Jewellery & Watches

Our Jewellery & Watch department handles thousands of items a year and for this we hold dedicated Fine Jewellery auctions featuring fabulous diamonds, antique and contemporary  jewellery and gemstones. 

Whether a single piece, or a an entire single collection, each piece is curated by our specialist jewellery valuers, in order to achieve the best possible prices for your items. 

Our latest single owner sale; The Fisher Collection, attracted bidders from across the world, with a very rare collection of early Georgian jewellery, which is highly sought after and commanded impressive hammer prices, which you can view in our past auctions page, these flagship auctions are what Stamford Auction Rooms are renowned for.

Jessica Wall, Auctioneer on Selling Jewellery & Watches at Auction:

Because we hold specialist Fine Jewellery & Watch auctions at very specific times of year, we create the perfect environment to make the very most for our clients that sell their precious items with us.

We pride ourselves in bringing each lot to the attention of a worldwide audience, with the use of multiple bidding platforms, targeted marketing, and promotion to our local and international bidders through social media platforms and press, often bringing with it the sense of excitement before each auction through hundreds of registered bidders waiting to get their bids in and win!

Our curated sales and in depth cataloguing together with professional photography also increase the chances of selling your items for the most amount of money possible, and as I tell all my clients, we as auctioneers are on the same team as you - the more money you make, the more commission we acheive, and that makes for a winning combination, and here are a prime example:

An Art Deco platinum and diamond bracelet sold for £17,000, both were in our specialist single owner jewellery auction: The Fisher Collection, where you can see the full catalogue and hammer prices on our Auction Results page.

Gold - the 'Scrap' Question

One of the most common questions we get asked is 'would I be better just scrapping it', and the answer is always a resounding no! The intrinsic value of the gold does fluctuate with the current gold prices, but there is so much more than the mere 'scrap' that is considered when valuing a piece of jewellery, for example the age, the style, the maker and of course if there are any stones, and even the most tired and broken pieces will almost always acheive more than what you could scrap it at.

The Jewellery Designer

A prime example of this is a maker we see all the time, George Jensen. If this Georg Jensen 18ct gold Fusion ring by Nina Koppel weighing 6.4g. below were to be sold merely based on its gold value, it would have been around £220 at the time, however it sold well over that price at £800. This is all due to the maker.

The Age of the Jewellery

The period of the piece is also very important when considering the potential value, and we see time and time again that Art Deco and Georgian jewellery in particular go over and above our estimates as illustrated below:

This fine platinum and diamond Art Deco solitaire ring of approximately 1.5ct sold over estimate of £3000-4000, for £4,600, and the brooch with an estimate of £1000-1500 over estimate for £1700

The Rare Factor!

Our experts will always tell you, that the more rare something is, the more sought after it is, the more bidders we attract, and the higher the hammer price goes, and here is a perfect example:

This extremely rare Georgian natural pearl necklace, with a diamond and emerald clasp sold for £21,000, and the reason is its age. Natural pearls of the Georgian period were found in a natural way, by diving for oysters in the sea, and hoping that one precious pearl would be found, and to think that this necklace had so many pearls, each one having been found by someone searching in the perilous seas over 200 years ago is quite remarkable.

Recent achievements from our Specialist Jewellery & Watches Auctions: 

 Watches are a Stamford Auction Rooms specialist area, selling the finest and most sought after makers to our worldwide audience, the Cartier watch above sold for £5,500.

Diamonds can certainly be a girls best friend! With guidance from our experts, the buyer of this stunning ring was very happy to walk home with a new purchase having won against two telephone bidders until £10,000 was declared by the auctioneer as sold.

A stunning 18ct gold, diamond and sapphire ring purchased for an upcoming engagement delighted both the vendor and the buyer when the hammer finally closed at £7,400, we all think such an impressive piece must have stunned the lucky person when they were proposed to.

Bidders online fought hard with the online bidders for this incredible 18ct gold and diamond Toi et Moi cross over ring, with an impressive £9,000 acheived to a SAR Live bidder. Bidding live and direct with us does not incur and additional online fee, and when it comes to hammer prices of this stature, it makes a significant reduction in the overall commission.

When it comes to quality jewellery the name can speak volumes. Cartier, Faberge, Tiffany & Co, Mikimoto, Chopard, Bulgari and Chanel are just some of the examples that have featured in our auctions. A stunning vintage 18ct old Cartier brooch in the form of a horse hit the headlines when it achieved £4,800 at SAR, the exquisite craftmanship can be seen in the intricate detail, and placing of the pearl embellished mane and sapphire set eyes.

Our Jewellery & Silver saleroom offer ideal display and viewing facilities, with help and advice on offer for both sellers and for purchasers. So, whether you're a first-time engagement ring buyer or an experienced jewellery collector or trade buyer, we are here to help.