STUNNING DIAMONDS DOMINATE NOONANS FINAL JEWELLERY SALE OF THE YEAR

Two horticulturally inspired brooches highlighted Noonans Mayfair’s sale of Jewellery, Watches, Silver, and Objects of Vertu on Tuesday, November 28, 2023, selling well above their pre-sale estimates. An Art Deco carved emerald, sapphire, and diamond jardinière brooch, circa 1930 sold for a hammer price of £30,000 tripling the estimate of £10,000-15,000 [lot 332].

As Frances Noble, Associate Director, and Head of Jewellery Department at Noonans explained: “This delightful brooch was brought into one of our valuation days in Petersfield by a private vendor. It has attracted considerable attention as it is possibly attributed to the important Parisian jewellers Boucheron but is not signed.”

She continued: “During the early decades of the 20th century, the use of carved Mughal emeralds in contemporary jewellery reflected the growing fascination of master jewellers with the decorative arts of India. Louis Boucheron and Jacques Cartier, amongst others, were charmed by the ‘exotic’ arts and splendour of India and frequently visited seeking commissions and purchasing gemstones for their Western clients. These Indian-inspired jewels were particularly popular amongst British clientele due to the Imperial interests of the country at the time. This brooch encapsulates several influences and innovations of the period, not only using an Indian carved emerald bead but also in the Japanese-inspired motif of the Bonsai tree.”
 
A mid 20th century diamond and fancy-coloured diamond giardinetto brooch sold for £20,000 against an estimate of £8,000-10,000. It was an exceptionally pretty piece, beautifully crafted and set with assorted fancy-coloured diamonds [lot 340].

Elsewhere, a very rare late 16th century German silver and ‘lemon’ parcel-gilt ‘monatsbecher’ (month beaker) by Hans Erne of Strasbourg, circa 1580, finely engraved with an inscription translating as The month of May brings magnificent flowers and makes fresh blooms young and old, sold for a hammer price of £24,000 [lot 479].

As Frances Noble noted: “These were made in sets of a dozen with one beaker for each month of the year, and used almost exclusively in German-speaking countries. They were fashionable between the early 16th and mid 17th centuries. This example will have been the fifth in a set of twelve. The month of May was associated with courtship and merrymaking and can be seen here in the numerous engraved scenes, including the depiction of figures playing backgammon and drinking in a boat and a courting couple bathing together. Fine examples, such as this one, only occasionally come on to the auction market, this particular beaker being in excellent condition, so was keenly contested at the sale by both the trade and private bidders, ultimately selling to an overseas collector.

The highest price for a watch in the sale was for a rare stainless steel Rolex wristwatch made for the Japanese market in 1965 sold for a hammer price of £22,000. It was sold with its original receipt from the Asian retailer, service guarantee, spare link, and presentation case by a private UK collector [lot 415].

As Joanne Lewis, Watch specialist at Noonans said: “Luminescence has long been a standard feature of watch dials for viewing in the dark, but the chronograph in this sale was designed for the Japanese market with no lume to the dial or hands.”

She continues: “The makers thought that having any radioactive material on a watch would put off buyers in Japan after the atomic bombings – hence the lack of lume on watches produced for that market.”

She ends: “This was a fantastic opportunity for a collector to obtain a rare example of the stunning and sought-after reference 6238 ‘Pre-Daytona’, produced between 1962 and 1968, and it is believed that approximately 2000 to 2500 pieces were manufactured (in all metals and dial variations). It was the predecessor of the reference 6239 Cosmograph Daytona model - as such, it is an important model in Rolex’s history, marking a turning point in the development of the chronograph and how it is known today.”

The highest price of the auction was paid for a stunning diamond bracelet centred with a pear-cut diamond and comprising a total diamond weight of approximately 44-50 carats, selling for a hammer price of £36,000 [lot 324].