NOONANS’ VALUATION DAYS IN YOUR AREA

£50,000; £38,000; £36,000; £22,000, £10,000. These are just some of the hammer prices achieved by jewellery consigned to auction at Noonans Mayfair from our regional valuation days across England, from London to Shropshire and Devon to Essex.

With sometimes as many as ten Noonans’ Valuation Days held in a single month across as many counties, the chance of finding something very special is now even higher.

Monthly valuation days in Hampstead consistently turn up fine pieces: a 4.28 carats solitaire diamond ring sold well over high estimate for £50,000 on 29 November 2022. The same valuation venue uncovered other stunning pieces that went on to sell very well indeed: a diamond ring, made in 1972 by the highly sought-after designer Andrew Grima, sold for double estimate, achieving a £10,000 hammer price, and a stylish Art Deco diamond bracelet, platinum mounted, and set with approximately 11.5 carats, exceeded its estimate of £6,000-8,000, selling for £17,000 in March 2023.

Valuation days in Shaftesbury, Dorset, have proved a fruitful venue: a late 19th century five-stone ruby ring set with untreated Burmese rubies, offered for sale on 14 March, 2022, sold for more than ten times its estimate, the hammer finally falling at £36,000.

The Shaftesbury events have also discovered some exceptional early jewellery, a highlight being The Lady Brook Medieval diamond ring. Dating to the 14th century, this exquisite ring had been discovered in a field in Thorncombe, Dorset in 2019 by a metal detectorist and registered via the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Such was the quality of this gold ring, with its two angular entwined bands and diamond-set pyramidal bezel, that it could only have come from a noble or wealthy family. The interior bore an inscription in Medieval French reading: ‘ieo vos * tien * foi * tenes * le moy’ translating ‘As I hold your faith, hold mine’. After research, the provenance was established as being from the family of Sir Thomas Brook, (circa 1355-1416), the largest landowner in Somerset in the 14th century. The ring went on to sell at auction for £38,000.

Norwich consistently proves to be a fascinating valuation destination, unearthing all kinds of treasures. Another detectorist proved to be a lucky finder. The Throckenholt Cross was recently brought into the Norwich event. Registered with the Portable Antiquities Scheme, on this occasion the find was made in 2019 in Sutton St Edmund, Lincolnshire, and proved to be a rare and historically significant early medieval gold cross pendant dating from the 11th-12th century, a time when a hermitage and chapel were granted to Thorney Abbey in the village of Throckenholt by Nigel, Bishop of Ely (1133-69). Consigned with hopes of £6,000-8,000, bidding quickly rose to £10,000.

Richmond-upon-Thames in south-west London proved to be another happy hunting ground for Noonans’ specialists when 4.96 carat brilliant-cut diamond ring came in for sale, and subsequently sold over high estimate to sell for £22,000.

Finally, an unusual piece was brought into a valuation day in Blackheath, south-east London. A 19th century gold bangle, decorated with curious figures and animals, proved to be an Assyrian revival example, circa 1870. This short-lived period of revivalist jewellery in Britain, reaching its height in the mid 1870s, was inspired by the great ruins of the ancient Assyrian empire in Mesopotamia, discovered in the 1840s by British and French archaeologists. The bangle was decorated throughout with raised Assyrian figures, the ‘Protective Spirits’, including the human-headed winged lion and guardians – the ‘ugallu’ and the ‘urmahlilu’. Finely chased and applied to a textured ground, between beaded borders, the bangle was estimated at £2,000-3,000 but sold at the auction for a hammer price of £5,500.

Frances Noble, Associate Director and Head of the Jewellery Department at Noonans, said: “As can be seen from these various examples of fine jewellery discovered at our valuation days, these regular events held around the country are providing opportunities for potential consignors to meet our specialists in their home towns, and consign to our Mayfair auctions. As auctioneers, we are always thrilled to discover unexpected treasures and subsequently achieve the very best prices for our customers.”

Here is the full list of future valuation days, including those in the next few weeks across the South and East of England.