Tying for the sale’s top lot at $5,000 was an 18K gold and diamond curb link chain necklace with 130 diamonds, approximately 3.85 carats on a 27¼-inch chain.
Review by Greg Smith, Catalog Photos Courtesy Doyle
NEW YORK CITY – Bidders swung into spring with stylish jewelry and watches from Doyle’s Jewelry Online sale that closed April 14. The auction offered more than 200 lots of gold jewelry and colorful pieces with hundreds of collectors vying for designs by Cartier, Tiffany & Co. and Bulgari.
With competitive bidding, the sale totaled $275,500, surpassing its estimate of $155,500/220,950, with 94 percent sold by lot and 100 percent sold by value.
“A specific jewelry trend that is still very strong is name-brand jewelry,” said Doyle vice president and appraiser of jewelry Martha Garcia. “Bidders continued to instill confidence in jewelry made by household names such as Tiffany & Co. and Cartier. These pieces sold just as well in our April 14th Jewelry Online auction as they would in a Doyle Live auction. Also, we saw very strong prices in stylish and wearable gold pieces.”
The top nine lots in the sale were all executed in yellow gold. Leading the group at $5,000 was an 18K gold and diamond curb link chain necklace with 130 diamonds, approximately 3.85 carats on a 27¼-inch chain. A 14K gold charm bracelet made the same price. It weighed 99.2 dwt and featured 34 charms on it, including a Temple of Hercules building, Titanic, US Liberty 1/10 oz. $5 coin, Lion of St Mark, pagoda temple, crown, Jesus crucifix, Pope Benedict XVI medallion and others. This and another 14K gold charm bracelet, which brought $4,062, came from the same estate.
From Cartier came an 18K gold “Love” bangle bracelet that sold for $4,062. Also from the maker came two tricolor gold “Trinity” band rings that took $1,500; a stainless steel and gold “Panthère” wristwatch, $1,250; and a stainless steel and gold “Santos” wristwatch, which took $812.
A buyer was drawn to the charm of this 14K gold bracelet with 34 elements, including religious, ancient and historical examples. It sold for $5,000.
Other wristwatches did well against their estimates, including a Chopard “Happy Diamond” in 18K gold with small single-cut diamonds, seven floating round diamonds and a diamond-set bezel that took $4,687. A gold dual-time mesh wristwatch by Baume & Mercier would bring $2,500.
In necklaces, the sale’s cover lot, an Angela Cummings-designed 18K butterfly pendant for Tiffany and Co., would sell for $3,500 above a $1,200 estimate. The same model encrusted with approximately 0.45 carats of round and single-cut diamonds took less, $3,125. Perhaps the beauty of a butterfly needs no embellishment.
There were some fabulous earrings in the sale, including a pair of 18K gold and diamond dome earclips with approximately 5.75 carats that sold for $3,125. A pair of cluster earrings with white and angel skin coral, turquoise, aquamarine and diamonds set in an 18K gold took $2,500. A great pair of earclips featured oval chrysoprase drops gold-mounted with oval and round cabochon blue, pink and green tourmalines, peridot and small round diamonds. The pair took above estimate at $2,000.
On the sale’s success, Garcia said, “We always see active bidding from the moment an auction catalog goes live, and this auction was no exception. From condition report request emails to Zoom calls with interested bidders, we saw lively bidding throughout the presale process, equal to that of a live auction.
“Doyle is fortunate to say that while our physical doors are temporarily closed, our virtual doors are wide open, and we were happy to witness an influx of new bidders into this most recent online sale that is equal to the amount of new bidders we would see in a Doyle Live sale. It was a pleasure to assist bidders both new and constant into this new auction frontier.”
All prices quoted include buyer’s premium. For more information, www.doyle.com.
