Lovers of luxe fashion and designer brands could find a rich seam of finds in the auction room – as Ben Gamble, MD & Head Auctioneer at Staffordshire auction house Cuttlestones explains.
When you think of auction houses, you might picture antique furniture, paintings and items fit to grace a country pile – but do you think of modern designer jewellery, watches and accessories? Possibly not. However, when it comes to buying – and selling – designer items, the auction room provides the perfect platform.
We specialise in finding the right market for rare and collectible items – and, when you think about it, that is exactly what makes designer clothes, jewellery and accessories so appealing.
While we’ve always seen top-end watches and some very nice pieces of modern designer jewellery pass through the saleroom, since we added online bidding to all of our sales in the past decade, we’ve seen significant growth in this market. Both in terms of vendors choosing to consign lots for sale, and bidders seeking items to invest in either to add to their collections or wear as statement pieces.
This opened our auctions up to a literally global audience of bidders, and we regularly ship items to destinations including the US, Australia, China and Japan.
During the COVID crisis, all of our sales have gone 100% online to enable them to continue while complying with lockdown and, later, social distancing measures. The response has been phenomenal – we’ve seen a huge influx of bidders totally new to auction houses and prices have skyrocketed both for ‘traditional’ antiques and more modern pieces.
Just recently, a local lady vendor consigned her considerable collection of designer modern jewellery – including items by names such as Theo Fennell of London, Roberto Coin, Chopard and Bvlgari.
Split into some 21 lots, this significant collection went onto achieve over £21,000 – with not only the vendor very pleased with the result, but bidders hailing from the UK and further afield delighted to have acquired pieces that rarely come to market.
And it’s not just designer jewellery that passes through the saleroom – in the past we’ve sold vintage designer clothing and we have some very high-end designer accessories including luggage, bags and more set to come under the hammer in late September 2020 – so look out, label lovers!
High-end highlights
Ben’s pick of the designer lots to have passed through the Cuttlestones sale room recently
- 18ct gold Omega Constellation wrist watch – SOLD £3,800 (Lot 455)
- Roberto Coin ‘Elephant Skin’ bracelet, ear clip & necklace set – SOLD £2,000 (Lot 378)
- Theo Fennell of London ‘Whip’ collection collarette, bangle & 2 pairs of earrings – SOLD £6,200 (Lot 394)
- Bvlgari 18ct white gold diamond set sprung ring – SOLD £2,100 (Lot 390)
- Chopard 18ct white gold ‘Love Happy’ necklace – SOLD £1,500 (Lot 388)
- 1970s Rolex Submariner gent’s wristwatch – SOLD £5,000
If you’re interested in consigning designer items to sale through Cuttlestones, or seeing what lots are coming up in their forthcoming sales, head to www.cuttlestones.co.uk
