Auction House for Jewelry?

[cookies]

Does anyone have experience with any jewelry auction house? I have several items that I need to sell, and am considering going to an auction house. I found "Doyle New York" online, but I have no auction experience and feel a little scared. I'd like to hear your experience, and see if it's a viable route for me.

Thanks for reading!

 

[JewelFreak]

Cookie, I've never sold anything at auction, but my sister sent a painting she & her DH inherited from her MIL to Sotheby's, who were very helpful. First they emailed & included a photo. Sotheby's got back to them w/questions & there was some back & forth stuff; Sotheby's gave them a sales estimate assuming the painting checked out ok. She & DH had an art shipper send it to NYC & Sotheby's took care of having it authenticated (at sister & DH's expense but it wasn't much, surprisingly). It would have sold for more with a little restoring & Sotheby's offered to get that done -- sister & DH decided it wasn't worth the cost, so it went to auction as is. Made 15 grand or so & Sotheby's sent them a check, minus the seller's premium. It was slickly done & painless.

There are Sotheby's, Christies, Doyle as you found, Phillips de Pury, Heritage (not sure if they sell jewelry though), maybe others can think of more.

I guess you'd start by sending them a photo and any info you may have, such as lab reports, marks on the pieces, provenance, etc., & asking for their feedback re selling. You can probably find info on premiums, conditions, & all that on their websites.

--- Laurie

 

[cookies]

Laurie, thank you so much for the details. It's very helpful. My items are not as valuable as your sister's painting, but I will check out the auction houses you've mentioned, and start sending pictures to some of them. Thank you again!

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I know someone who sells loose stones occasionally at Bonhams,

 

[cookies]

Thank you, smitcompton!

I checked the current auction on Bonhams' website. Compared to Sotheby's and Doyle NY's past auctions, Bonhams' estimate seems to be lower, but I really have no idea how the valuation works. I've sent some pictures of my items to Sotheby's for a value estimate. I will see how it goes.

 

[Circe]

Leslie Hindman has been doing an AWFUL LOT of PR lately: I feel like Sotheby's, Christies, etc. are still the way to go for high end items, but if we're talking 40K or less, LH should get you fairly good range.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Dupuis Auctions are very responsive/helpful. I wouldn't hesitate to consign with them.

cheers--Sharon

 

[cookies]

Thank you, Circe and Sharon!

The original purchase value of my items is not particularly high; they are in the $5k~$12k range (per piece). So I probably should try Dupuis, Leslie Hindman, and/or Bonhams, rather than the high end ones. I already sent some pictures to Sotheby's, but since I don't expect them to reply anytime soon, I will contact Dupuis. Depending on what Dupuis says, I might contact the other two as well.

 

[JewelFreak]

Cookie, I think you can ethically contact more than one auction house at the same time, without needing to wait to hear from one first. When a very valuable item is at stake, the houses will have sort of bidding wars to get the consignment -- one may guarantee a specific price whether or not it actually reaches that level (in other words, will buy it if it doesn't reach their estimate at the auction), another may offer concessions on seller's premium, etc. The seller evaluates offers & chooses one. If that's done for high value pieces it must be perfectly permissible for lower also.

Would love to hear how it goes once you get it done -- might be informative for everybody around here (me included).

--- Laurie

 

[innerkitten]

I've never bought from an auction house before but I sometimes visit my local one when they have jewelry auctions because I get inspired and it's fun. Everyone that works there is really nice. Last time I was there they let me try and ( and wear for a few minutes ) an antique cartier diamond and ruby cuff . OMG I felt like I was wearing a museum piece!

http://www.bonhams.com/locations/SF/

 

[JewelFreak]

Woo, fun, IK! Way to spend an afternoon, playing with jewelry. Those are the right kind of friends to have!

 

[cookies]

So I sent pictures to Dupuis, Leslie Hindman, and Bonhams, and then followed up with a phone call today. Leslie Hindman said they would get back to me in a few days. Bonhams said my items are below their minimum lot value. I couldn't reach Dupuis by phone, probably because their 800 number is a Canada number, and my plan doesn't allow international dialing.

This is quite a learning experience. It's also interesting to see the previous auction results. It seems antique/vintage jewelry sells quite well. Big name pieces are doing well too. Contemporary jewelry is so so, unless the item has some impressive diamonds or precious gemstones.

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

I am interested to hear how it turns out.

cheers--Sharon

 

[mimi72]

I have bought from an auction house in St Louis-- Ivey-Selkirk. Commissions for sellers vary from 10-25% depending on the selling price of the item. They have high end jewelry auctions about 3 times per year, and there's one coming up this weekend (I am staying away...some BGD projects I'm saving for....).

I don't know where you are located, but I do know they attract non-local buyers (you can bid by phone) which turns out to be better than being local because if the item is shipped to you out of state, you avoid paying local sales tax. Since I live just over the border in IL, this works out great!!

http://www.iveyselkirk.com

 

[cookies]

So I contacted many of the auction houses mentioned above. So far two auction houses have replied with an estimate. I will post updates if I decide to send my items to one of them.