Fine jewellery, an outstanding collection of watches, silverware, milk churns (bear with us), clocks – and a classic car discovered in a barn – all got bidders hot under the collar in the Thursday 28th November Winter Antiques Auction at our Staffordshire auction house…
When you talk about a ‘barn find’ vehicle, you’d tend to think of a vintage Landrover or maybe an archaic piece of farm machinery. But tucked away in the back of a barn in Staffordshire for decades was one of the most iconic sports cars of the 20th Century – a 1972 E-Type Jaguar.
With its bodywork and interior in remarkably good condition considering the circumstances (but obviously in need of some serious TLC as well as a mechanical overhaul) this classic car proved the undoubted star lot of our November Winter Antiques & Collectors auction, hosted in our sale room in Penkridge, Staffordshire. Despite interest from bidders across the globe, the hammer fell at £20,000 to an enthusiast based just a few miles over the Shropshire border. But it wasn’t the only lot to ‘shine’ at our final specialist sale of the year…
Jewellery auction highlights…
Featuring a diverse range of fine jewellery from modern examples to period pieces, the jewellery section of this sale provided some real ‘shiners’. The top seller was lot 647 – an unusual enamel & yellow metal mounted cameo brooch, which sold for £3,500. Lot 641 – a diamond encrusted pendant brooch with an impressive central diamond of an estimated 1.07 carats fetched £2,100 while Lot 709 – a good quality hallmarked 9ct rose gold Albert chain mounted with a full (1905) and half (1915) sovereign saw the hammer fall at £1,900.
Next in the top of the jewellery lots was Lot 711 – a Georgian gold Intaglio Cornelian ring which went for £900, while Lot 689 – an antique aquamarine single stone set yellow metal pendant achieved £650.
Watch collectors out in force…
The watches section of our Winter Antiques & Collectors auction saw some particularly fine collectable watches and timepieces go under the hammer.
Rolex models provided most of the highlights, as demand continues to be high for this most iconic of brands, with Lot 733 – a Gent’s Rolex stainless steel Oyster Perpetual Submariner featuring black luminous dial with triangular rectangular and circular markers – leading the field when it sold at £7,500. Hot on its heels Lot 738 – another Rolex stainless steel Oyster Perpetual Submariner date wristwatch – fetched £6,000, while Lot 641, a 1960s example of this sought-after model, this time the ‘Air King’ edition, sold for £2,800.
Lot 742 – a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust Superlative Chronometer wristwatch sold for £1,100 despite having several faults recorded in the catalogue and, proving that other brands of watches are just as collectable, Lot 140 – an Omega Gent’s Speedmaster Professional Chronograph Wristwatch engraved ‘Flight – Qualified by NASA for all manned space missions’ ‘ The First Watch Worn on The Moon’ sold for £2,500.
The watch section also featured some rather nice pocket watches – with Lot 747, an 18ct gold open faced manual wind pocket watch by Sir John Bennett, in its original fitted box, selling for £2,000.
Silver, brass & glass…
In the silver section, comprising some 75 lots, two in particular stood out. Lot 845, a heavy hallmarked silver four-piece tea service by James Deakin & Son, Sheffield 1918, sold for £1,000 while Lot 806 – a matching set of three hallmarked silver art deco style photo frames by Ernest Wilfred Sanders & Henry Arthur MacKenzie, marked Birmingham 1929, fetched £320.
These were followed closely by two of the quirkiest lots in the sale – lot 855; an Edwardian twin-handled ‘Pure Milk’ shop counter milk pail, which went for £1,900 and Lot 873 – a Victorian brass advertising 17-gallon milk churn engraved Godmands & Sons, Cross Road to the front, which saw the hammer fall at £1,400.
It’s little surprise that antique glassware is so highly collectable – its fragility lends scarcity to even mass-produced items of some age. Lot 933 certainly attracted the attention of the glassware collectors – a collection of eight assorted Airtwist 18thCentury & later wine and other glasses, some examples engraved and one glass with a collector’s label for ‘Francis Dickson’ sold for £700.
The best of the rest…
As one would expect from such a diverse catalogue, highlight lots featured across a number of other categories, too.
Lot 1092 – a 19th Century brass mounted teak ship’s wheel with central brass boss inscribed ‘Brown Bros & Co. Ltd, Rosebank Ironworks, Edinburgh sold for £400 while Lot 1099 – a mounted gilt horseshoe, relating to the Derby winning racehorse Ormonde with wording “1886 ‘ORMONDE’ THE DERBY £4,700 also ‘passed the post’ at £400.
Following the trend that is seeing pre-digital music – and music players – of all formats becoming increasingly collectable, Lot 1122, a small vintage gramophone by ‘The Gramophone Company’ sold for £1,000.
Clocks once again performed particularly well – Lot 1130 a very fine late 17th Century basket-topped bracket clock by Robert Williamson of London (1698-1714) sold for £4,200; Lot 1138 – a late 17th century bracket clock with quarter bell strike by John Shaw of London went for £6,500 and Lot 1139 – a late 18th century ebonised bracket clock by William Wright of Southwark sold for £2,500. Last, but certainly not least, Lot 1141 – a fine Georgian mahogany cased bracket clock by Thomas Wagstaff on London achieved £3,000.
We are now taking consignments for our 2025 fine art, antique and specialist sales at our auction house in Staffordshire, West Midlands. To find out what your antiques and collectables could be worth send us some photos via WhatsApp on WhatsApp to 07949 603872, email valuations@cuttlestones.co.uk or call 01785 714905 to make an appointment.
