Estate Jewelry

Susan Freeman Collection at Skinner Auction House

Michelle

When you travel what items do you buy as souvenirs for yourself? Do you buy any jewelry from your destination? Skinner Auction House in Boston Massachusetts hosted a small sampling of a traveler whose taste veered towards the Arts and Crafts and high-end costume jewelry that went up for sale today. Susan Freeman, a jewelry designer and collector based in New York had 37 items in the June Fine Jewelry sale at Skinner.

I will look at some highlights from Susan Freeman’s collection (to see full collection at Skinner click here) and then look at the results for her collection.

Highlights

For me the top item I wanted to see was the praying mantis brooch by Marcel Boucher. I … Read the rest

Emeralds at Auction

Michelle

May is almost over and there are only a few more major auctions before summer is here. So before May ends I want to look at the emeralds that went on auction in the 2015-2016 season. Emeralds are the birthstone for May but they are also the stones for celebrating a 20th or 35th anniversary.  The interesting meaning behind emeralds is that they are called the ‘Stone of Successful Love’. ‘Emerald promotes friendship, balance between partners, and is particularly known for providing domestic bliss, contentment and loyalty. It was dedicated in the ancient world to the goddess Venus for its ability to insure security in love’.(CrystalVaults)

I will look at 4 auction houses: Christie’s, Sotheby’s, Bonhams, and Skinner. … Read the rest

Hearts on Auction

Michelle

In honor of Valentine’s Day I have put together a few heart shaped jewelry items that were on the auction block. I am looking at items sold by Skinner Auction House in Boston, Sotheby’s, and Christies. All of them are beautiful, a few have some interesting history and one has created a scandal that will put it back in the auction house once again!

 

Skinner Auction House:

Skinner_67_12_2015_1

An 18kt Gold, Ruby, and Diamond Pendant sold in 2015 at the Fine Jewelry Auction for $1,230.

 

Skinner_121_12_2015_1An Antique 14kt Gold and Pink Tourmaline Necklace sold in 2015 at the Fine Jewelry Auction for $9,840.

Skinner diamond blog

Important Diamond sold in 2015 at the Fine Jewelry Auction for $3,947,000.

Note: I saw this … Read the rest