This platinum, emerald and diamond ring from the estate of a woman who had a home in Paris as well as in Connecticut was the top lot of the sale and finished at $3,250.

Review by W.A. Demers, Photos Courtesy Winter Associates

PLAINVILLE, CONN. – Winter Associates’ June 8 auction was a great success, especially with jewelry. Doing particularly well was a platinum, emerald and diamond ring that bested its $1,1/1,400 estimate to finish at $3,250. Stamped and tested “Irid Plat,” the platinum half round shank with a four-prong center crown was center set with one cut medium green natural emerald, its shoulders set with two shield-cut diamonds, approximately 0.65 carat total weight and exhibiting I-J color and VS2 clarity.

An online-only auction, the event was offered on Invaluable and LiveAuctioneers, with absentee and phone bids also accepted. Previewers were welcome by appointment, although instructed to wear a mask.

Another top jewelry highlight was an 18K sapphire and diamond brooch that achieved $2,600 against an estimate of $800-$1,000. Stamped and tested “750,” the piece featured 18K black gold and a floral design with double pin stem on the back. With a 2¼-inch diameter, its flower petals were set with 554 round brilliant, light to dark blue natural sapphires, total weight: 14.45 carats, and the center section was set with 20 round brilliant cut diamonds.

Art Deco continues to be a strong category for jewelry. Nearly doubling its high estimate by selling at $1,000 was a pair of 18K ruby and diamond drop earrings. Mounting was stamped and tested 18K white gold and the earrings featured friction post backs. One earring was set with 43 round brilliant cut diamonds, the second earring was set with 42, approximately 1 carat for both.

An 18K sapphire and diamond brooch achieved $2,600 against an estimate of $800-$1,000.

Featured in the sale was the estate of a woman who had a home in Paris as well as in Connecticut. She had a good eye for design, according to the firm’s principal Linda Stamm, and was passionate about her jewelry. The consignment offered an abundance of high-end costume jewelry by makers such as Dior, Schiaparelli, Givenchy, Scaasi and examples of striking ethnic jewelry. The woman’s estate featured other fashionable items, such as a Jimmy Choo evening purse and Ferragamo shoes. Likely picked up on her world travels were coins and medals discovered in the jewelry cases: a French wedding coin designed by Depaulis dated 1884, a 1935 Swiss gold 20 Franc, two US 1987 $5 fractional gold eagles and other Continental and American coins.

An impressive mechanical piece from days gone by included an Ideal Sublime Harmonie table top cylinder music box with a zither attachment and ten cylinders that had a companion to rest on, a carved cabriole leg table. It was bid to $3,712.

The skill of Italian craftsmen specializing in pietra dura was showcased by many pieces from another collector, including a 3-by-4-foot black table top/slab that featured polychrome inset stone of meandering vines and geometric forms, which finished at $2,500.

Twentieth Century Herend porcelain dinnerware and figures crossed the block, with one grouping of four figures, including a limited edition figure of the Minotaur, 14 inches high; a figure of pan, 8½ inches high; and a pair of skulls, 2 inches high, all signed/marked on base and with wear consistent with age and use, selling for $2,432.

Nearly doubling its high estimate, this pair of 18K Art Deco-style ruby and diamond drop earrings brought $1,000.

Blending handsomely from a number of Connecticut collectors were a wide variety of Asian items, including a Twentieth Century oil on canvas by Hong Nian Zhang depicting a Buddha inspired by artwork in the hidden caves of Tibet. The painting was bid to $3,000.

An art lover with an appreciation for the modern snapped up an oil on canvas still life by Ben Benn for $896, and a striking portrait of Frankie Cleveland (US First Lady twice) painted by Robert Gruelle and dated 1895, a date that indicates it was painted during one of her husband’s White House terms, went out at $960. Her relationship and marriage to Grover Cleveland, from ward to wife, is a story out of a romantic novel.

Prices given include the buyer’s premium as stated by the auction house. For information, www.auctionsappraisers.com or 860-793-0288.