Author Archive: Doerr Dallas Valuations

F is for Filigree

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The word filigree derives from Latin “filum” meaning thread and “granum” grain. It is a form of intricate metalwork, usually made of gold or silver. The Latin words gave filigrana in Italian which itself became filigrane in 17th-century French and shortened from filigreen in English.

The technique consists of using tiny beads or twisted threads, sometimes both, soldering them together or to the surface of an object, such as a bracelet or brooch for example. The result is a highly artistic and detailed work of art.

Its origins can be traced back to the Egyptians and along the coast of the Mediterranean. Archaeological digs have found the technique to be incorporated into jewellery dating as far back as 3,000BC.

“Necklace in gold filigree of Queen Twosret and earrings of her husband Seti II. Discovered with a cache of jewellery inscribed with the names of Seti II and Twosret in the Gold Tomb (KV56) at the Valley of the Kings, West Thebes.

The cornflower and ball beads in this necklace were made by soldering wire rings of several different diameters into the desired forms. The piece is an early example of the technique known as filigree. New Kingdom, Late 19th Dynasty, ca. 1292- 1189 BC. Now in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo.”

It was greatly used by Portuguese goldsmiths, using both gold and silver filigree.

The elaborate metalwork also included techniques such as granulation, wire and scroll.

The small beads are applied to the surface through heat with visible solder. This technique was used by the Etruscan civilisation of ancient Italy in Tuscany, western Umbria and
northern Lazio (700-300 BC). Its style was made famous with Etruscan revival jewellery, modelled after the ancient Roman empire. The most famous jewellery designer to create Etruscan Revival pieces was Castellani.

“The head in the form of a thyrsus, an ancient Greek stylised pine cone, with twisted wirework decorations, bearing Castellani’s double C’s hallmark on the base, all to a yellow gold pin, circa 1860, measuring 2.5 x 1.1cm, the pin measuring 4.9cm long, gross weight 4.7 grams.

A collectable stick pin in the shape of a pinecone, made in London around 1860 by Castellani. This charming pin features twisted wirework filigree decoration, a technique used in Ancient Etruscan jewellery, and would today make a perfect and eye-catching addition to a silk tie.”

Though it is an ancient jewellery technique, it is still frequently used in today’s jewellery, especially in Asia and particularly in Indian jewellery.

The technique should not be confused with cannetille. Filigree’s fragility and delicateness suggests lace, in a flat form. Cannetille has a 3-dimensional aspect to it, sometimes with added repoussé work to it – which is a method of hammering metal into relief from the reverse side.

There was a renewed popularity for filigree in Italia and France between 1660 to the late 19th century, with the fashion reaching its peak in 1830.

A decade later, the precise and time-consuming technique of filigree and cannetille had been replaced by repoussé, which offered a similarly inexpensive artistic and decorative way of setting stones.

Like many metalwork techniques, its origin is far behind us but its use and technique are forever evolving. It is understandable that this craftmanship would be a favourite for different cultures
and throughout time. Though some modern pieces of that style may be inexpensive, the cost of purchasing a traditional parure reflects the art and the know-how that is filigree.

“A fine Georgian citrine and gold parure, consisting of a necklace, a pair of earrings and a pair of bracelets, the necklace consisting of an oval-cut faceted citrine surrounded by a gold frame of foliate design, suspending three detachable drop-like pendants, each centrally-set with a pear-shaped citrine, all suspended by a double strand of tubular mesh chain with box clasp of similar
design, set with an oval faceted citrine, each bracelet with a clasp of similar design, each centrally set with an oval faceted citrine, to a gold mesh ribbon-like bracelet, the earrings of matching gold foliate design consisting of an oval-cut faceted citrine suspending a pear-shaped faced citrine, all mounted in yellow and rose gold, circa 1820, accompanied by original fitted box, the necklace measuring approximately 38cm long, gross weight for the suite 71.5 grams.” Selling for £37,500

Watches Update

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Well, if we thought that 2020 couldn’t be surpassed in the watch world – we could not have been further from the truth!
We must start (we really do) with what was without doubt the biggest drop of 2021 – the Tiffany/Patek Phillipe 5711 – 1A/018

We are all very aware that one of the most desirable watches in the Patek Phillipe arsenal is due to be retired this year and as such the last 18 months have been spent by watch aficionados talking about how the standard Patek Phillipe 5711 has risen to the ranks of a £175,000 wristwatch when compared to a few years ago – it really is astonishing.

So, when the powers that be decided a send-off to conquer all others was required – they called in the big guns, and that robin egg blue dial appeared from nowhere. 170 will be produced and available exclusively from Tiffany boutiques and one can only imagine how these may perform on the secondary market – in a recent charity auction, one of the 170 sold for a jaw dropping $6.5 million, which is simply staggering for a watch that retails at a few bucks over $52,000.

Now some people amongst you will be aware that Tiffany has recently been acquired by LVMH and this moment has clearly been defined by the 5711 – 1A/018, it even has a little nod to the recent acquisition on the engraving of the caseback – a little brash? Maybe, but I am fairly sure that most watch people won’t notice the difference and hope that the work between the two companies will continue as it has done for the last 170 years.

As far as the rest of 2021 happened – it was pretty much a continuation of 2020, with rises across the board of Patek Phillipe, Audemars Piguet, and of course… Rolex sports models.

At the start of 2021, a 116610LN could be acquired on the secondary market for just short of £10,000 now, it’s closer to £16,000. Considering back in the pre covid days of 2018, on a good day you could get one for closer to £6000 – it hasn’t been a bad investment and if you bought the green bezel model – well that’s a completely different story!

Other highlights of 2021 have included the Bremont ENG300 – Whilst the English brothers may have had to fight off some arguments about the origin of parts of their watches, this new model has what appears to be a well-researched in house movement, that really is a game changer for the UK watch industry.

The Cartier Solarbeat, is certainly a watch for the risk taker – a person that wants a classical design with one of the most forward-thinking developments of the year – a solar powered Cartier, its doesn’t sound right saying it, but could you tell the difference? At a really good price point as well, one would have to be brave to bet against it being a huge success.

Finally, what has to be my watch of the year is the Tissot PRX, starting at under £300 (yes, three hundred pounds) it is an amazing retro design with hints of the big boys, but with a price tag that makes it far more accessible to enthusiasts on a lower budget as well.

What will 2022 bring? It’s difficult to say but with watch shows being planned for throughout the year, and design teams back at their desks I am sure that there will be a few surprises ahead!

E for Eternity Rings

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Eternal love

How better to declare one’s love but by gifting an eternity ring?

Sometimes called Infinity ring, it is a band set with identical gems throughout. Just as the snake rings represented undying love, eternity rings seem to be the modern fashionable jewellery item to state such devotion.

Traditional materials

It is thought eternity rings have been gifted as far back as the 4th century BC. They were made of plants, such as hemp, or reeds and even elephant hair.

A tradition that went long into the Victorian era. Nowadays, these bands are made with precious metals such as gold and platinum. The stones have evolved from paste to sapphire, ruby in the 18th century to diamonds in the second half of the 20th century.

Engagement rings

Until the 1960s, an engagement ring would traditionally have been set with a diamond single-stone. It is rumoured that due to the surplus of small diamonds, approximately 0.25ct and smaller, the jewellery giant De Beers created a campaign in which they would use these smaller stones, set them in Eternity rings and promote this new essential jewel to couples who had already been married for several years.

Range of price

Eternity rings will come a wide range of price. What will impact this price? Materials such as the metal used will be the first component. A ring can be made of silver, gold or platinum, being the most expensive.

Secondly the stones will affect the budget the most. When an eternity ring is set with precious stones, it is important to remember how much carat weight the ring has as a total but also looking at each stone individually. The larger each single stone is, the pricier the ring as a whole. The “purity” of the stones is an element that cannot be forgotten either. Whether it be rubies, sapphires or diamond, the clearer the stones, the more desirable they are and therefore the more expensive they will be. We refer to this grading scale for diamonds as the four C: colour, carat, cut and clarity.

Navaratna ring

Navaratna – from the Sanskrit Nine (Nava) Gems (Ratna) – jewellery consists of an item of jewellery, necklace, bracelet

or ring, set with nine gems: ruby, diamond, pearl, red coral, hessonite, blue and yellow sapphire, emerald and cat’s eye. The Navaratna rings can be considered as a form of eternity ring, present in almost all Asian countries, beyond India where they originated from, regardless of religion. There are a few rules and traditions as to how to place the stones and how it should be worn. Women are to wear the ring on their left finger while the men on the opposite hand.

The ruby which represents the sun, should be placed in the middle and the gems should be of the upmost quality, making these jewels very precious indeed.

Infinite brands

Eternity rings are so popular that every luxury brand has taken to create and promote them as unique and essential jewels in a lady’s collection.

Tri-factor

Eternity rings possess the tri-factor: they make a statement all the while remaining discreet, and elegant. Who best to illustrate this than the Duchess of Cambridge, who not only wears her wedding band along with her engagement sapphire and diamond cluster ring but also a diamond eternity ring on top. The Eclipse diamond ring by Annoushka, is set with 0.23ct total of diamonds and retails at £1,500. It is said to have been a gift from the Duke of Cambridge for the birth of their first child, Prince George.

Your choice

So when should an eternity ring be gifted? Which finger should be worn on? Which brand to choose? Which gem? Which metal? So many choices to choose from it’s no wonder they have swept the jewellery market with ease. Some might say, it should be gifted after decades of marriage, others prefer to gift it as an engagement band, some may want diamonds, others precious stones such as sapphires. Offered in a variety of style and at various price range, as one of Britain’s favourite matchmaker Cilla Black would say, “The decision is yours”!

D is for Diopside

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Diopside is an igneous and metamorphic rock. This means it forms from the solidification of its molten state and has been subjected to extreme heat and pressure deep below the Earth’s surface, very much like how diamonds are formed.

It is found across the globe and more readily available in the Earth’s mantle than at the surface.

Commercial diopside can be found in Siberia, Russia, though in limited amounts. The prized chrome diopside (green colour) is sourced in Europe (Austria, Finland and Italy), South America (Brazil), Canada (Ontario and Quebec), the state of New York, Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Burma) Madagascar and South Africa.

What do we mean by commercial? Stones that are of a particular quality that can be cut and set into jewellery.

Although there are several deposit sites none of them produce regularly or in significant quantities and is therefore not usually mined due to the lack of return.

Diopside rates a 5 to 6/10 on the Mohs scale. The Mohs scale of mineral hardness was created by Friedrich Mohs in 1822 and determines the scratch resistance of minerals when scratches by another mineral.

The Mohs scale is used to manufacture everyday objects: your mobile phone’s screen glass is made of a material that scratches at level 6, some at level 7.

Diopside has fair toughness and is suitable to be set in jewellery, however it should be worn with caution and should be handled with care as it risks being scratched or broken.

Diopside comes in a various colours ranging from greyish white, light blue to purple, light green to vivid green, brown, black.

The most sought-after colour is green, called chrome diopside. It owes its hue to an increase of chromium.

This rough chrome diopside ring (pictured above) sold for £3,187 (including premium) in June 2021.

The other popular variation is star diopside which occurs in black (pictured below).

It displays chatoyancy (or cat’s eye): a 4-rayed star caused by reflection of light at needle-shaped inclusions of magnetite. It makes for a lovely gem to be set in brooches, rings and pendants as the star will shift along with movement and light. A good alternative to star sapphire for more modest budgets and a real “waow” effect!

This brooch (pictured below) is up for auction at the end of May with an estimate of AU$ 600-800 (GBP 340-450) with Bonhams.

Because diopside is a metamorphic rock, it is used as an indicator for diamond deposits. Diamonds arrive to the Earth’s surface through deep volcanic eruptions and travel through pipes, very much like chrome diopside. Hence when the green stone is found at the surface, diamonds could be near. However, these pipes will only ever produce around 2 carats per ton.

It’s easy to understand the appeal of chrome diopside as an alternative to the more expensive green gem that is emerald, but its popularity is moderate for several reasons. As we know, diopside is soft on the Mohs scale and therefore risks easy damage. The look of chrome diopside also works to its detriment. It has a vitreous and sugary aspect as opposed to clear, transparent emeralds. It is for these reasons that the stone is less known by the public but all too famous amongst diamond miners!

Bridget Riley, Turning 91

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‘Nature is the origin and feeds what I make’

As Bridget Riley turns 91 we look back at the work of a truly groundbreaking artist whose life and work is influenced by nature in all its forms.

‘I am a painter and that’s what I do’ said Bridget Riley in a recent BBC interview and looking back to the 60s you see just how fresh and new her work still is and as the years have gone on it only looks better, fresher and more new. Bridget Riley has spent 60 years pushing the boundaries of what is possible in art and continues to do so. Cornwall has been a major influence on Bridget Riley’s work almost from birth. Her great grandfather had built a Cornish family home on the coast in the 19th Century and at the outbreak of the War in 1939, Bridget along with her sister mother and aunt decamped to Cornwall where they remained for the duration. Her father was away fighting and early on in the war was declared ‘missing’ which remained the case until happily at the cessation of hostilities the family was reunited. So in these formative years her influences were all female as they shared a small four room Cornish cottage. Bridget didn’t go to school for the five years the family was in Cornwall which she described as ‘heavenly, there was no transport and nowhere to go and no particular reason to go anywhere ‘ She was able to absorb the world around her watching the way waves move the unique shapes they make, there was just nothing else to do but to look and appreciate the world around her in this extraordinarily beautiful coastal landscape. There was a war on so there was no petrol for private cars and no public transport so you had to walk everywhere. Bridget’s fate as an artist was probably sealed during this time as both her mother and aunt had studied Art at Goldsmiths College so probably the foundations of her artistic future where laid and set during these heavenly five years The shapes the sea makes as it rolls in and out on the tides were endlessly fascinating to Bridget. As she says herself ‘they will never be the same again each and every time they’re different, every single wave every single ripple, every single breaking of a wave on a shore or rock all are unique and have never happened before and will never happen again.

After the war Bridget began her studies in London and was classically trained at Goldsmiths College then followed by the Royal College of Art for some more classical training, all focusing on painting, drawing and sculpture. Her class mates included Peter Blake, Frank Auerbach and John Bratby. Her student work while at the Royal College is very much what was expected of you in the 1950s, sombre and faintly French narrative paintings nothing at all like you associate with Bridget’s work now. Bridget left the RCA in 1955 and intent on being a painter she set out to find her style, she found the work of Georges Seurat resonated and strongly influenced her then and for the rest of her life. She saw in his work something similar to what she was looking for, something new and different. For a while during 1959, she experimented by both adopting his style and by faithfully copying one of his pictures called

‘The Bridge at Cordova’ a work dating from 1887. Her progress towards what we see as her familiar work today moved more rapidly as the 60s dawned, when everything that was needed to change social barriers and norms fell away and everyone was open to new ideas and looking for ways to progress fashion and trends further and faster than ever before. Bridget viewed the Art world as pretty stagnant in the 1950s, indeed she had a particular phrase she used to describe it ‘ Infectious apathy and vicious insularity’.

At this time the Whitechapel Gallery in London was at the epicentre of what was new and happening in Art, its director Brian Robertson was bringing over the work of the American Abstract Expressionists such as Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock which encouraged the young British artists of Bridget’s generation to claim this space to showcase their work with confidence that it was all new and fresh and of its time.

Bridget was inspired to create work that looked like nothing anyone had ever seen before, she not only broke the mould she literally blew it up! ‘The Kiss’ appears as one of her earliest groundbreaking images in 1961, in her first show in London when she really hit her stride and she had finally broken away from all the 19th Century conventions she had been taught about constructing a work of art.

We use ‘Abstract’ to describe Bridget’s work, but for me and many others including Bridget it’s not the right or appropriate word, it’s something else that draws from

nature and shows nature. In these early years all of her work is black and white, what changes are the shapes, forms and movement variations. By 1962 discs appears with the movement expressed by the fading of the discs from left to right strong towards the centre and then fading out towards the sides this picture marks the beginning of experimentation between what the artist sees and what the viewer experiences, experimenting all the time with what it feels like to look at a work.

At the same time, the early 60’s witnessed the arrival of the Op Art, Psychedelic Movement with the appearance of mind bending art experiences teamed up with light and mechanical ways of making patterns to create optical illusions for an audience hungry for Psychedelic experiences.

It was a blockbuster exhibition of mixed International Contemporary Artists at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1965 that sealed Bridget’s reputation as a major international artist. The exhibition took NY by storm, welcome as this was Bridget was totally taken by surprise and made uncomfortable by seeing how fast her art flowed out from MOMA onto the streets of NY. Within days of the opening her images had been siphoned off onto dresses, skirts T-shirts and fabrics of all sorts which defined the era for the rest of the 60’s.

However in commercial terms it was all out of her hands, imagine creating a series of paintings for a major exhibition and in the next morning it’s key elements are all in stock in Bloomingdale’s, all without your permission or involvement.

Colour appears in 1967 when along with the sculptor Philip King Bridget is selected to represent Britain at the Venice Biennial, where she becomes the first Briton and the first woman to win the International prize for painting.

Bridget’s work has continued to evolve and change over the intervening sixty years, in 2015 she returned to Black and White, Discs re-appear in her Annenberg Court painting for the National Gallery and now her work brightens up the long corridor walls of major hospitals in London and Liverpool. A trip to Egypt in the late 70’s brought a new series of works limited to the Egyptian palette of five colours only and the market for her work, once focussed only on the 1960’s has now broadened out to include all and everything and we all at Doerr Dallas wish Bridget a very happy 91st birthday on April 24th.

Drama of Light and Land: The Martyn Gregory Collection of British Art

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For the second time in two years, a good friend of mine has offered a portion of his stock for sale at one of the major London Auction Houses.

Last time around it was Rafael Valls at Sotheby’s, consigning Old Master oil paintings. I need not have fretted, all but 2 sold, but this time, it was Martyn Gregory offering British watercolours at Christie’s, a far more challenging proposition.

There are several reasons why watercolours do not chime with modern taste. The first is their fragility. We now know that light comes in particles and waves. We have always known that it generates heat and it fades watercolour pigments, if it hits them directly. This can take just a matter of a few years. They are also susceptible to attack from silverfish, if they are coated in Gum Arabic, the substance which made Osama Bin Laden’s family fortune, you may remember, and which was much used in the 19th Century by watercolourists to give depth to the colours. Silverfish love to eat Gum Arabic and when they do, it takes the pigment with it, leaving blank squiggles across the paper!

Watercolours are often painted on acidic paper and this can discolour and damage the pigments too. Furthermore, the big exhibition ‘machines’, the enormous watercolours ‘finished’ to a high degree, which the O.W.S. (Old Watercolour Society) and others produced in the early 19th Century, with a view to them holding their own, visually, when hung in exhibitions next to oil paintings, are totally out of fashion.

This is the background against which Martyn’s British Landscapes were offered. Christie’s were confident the sale would succeed and to sell 149 out of 194 lots proves them to be right. However, a closer analysis of what happened is revealing. The sale total was £559,864 including buyers’ premium, which adds nearly 34% to the hammer price. The lots averaged out at just over £3,700 each. When I was at Bonhams 10 years ago, we calculated that any lot selling for under £10,000 lost us money. (In this sale only 14 lots hit this threshold and that is including premiums) It must be the same for Christie’s. We can only speculate that they hope to get the rest of his stock in due course!

The landscapes that appealed most were wild places with dramatic stormy skies or lowering cloudy sunsets or both. The first 5 to exceed £10,000 were all Scottish scenes. Lot 5, the Turner of Oxford of Loch Torridon under a moody dawn sky was a very impressive example of this genre, as was his Sunset over Loch Coruisk on the Isle of Skye.

There was a classic harvesting scene by de Wint, painted on a warm late summer day at £15,000 and a fascinating and rare whaling scene in the Arctic by John Cleveley which made £20,000. However, despite these watercolours being well-chosen examples, in good condition, selected by an expert with a very good eye and promoted by the Christie’s International publicity machine, one came away with the feeling that British Watercolours, which were so sought after by collectors in previous decades, are somewhat passé.

In real terms most are worth a tenth of what they were 50 years ago. When will it be time for their re-assessment?

Art Business Conference Report

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Jonathan Horwich, Modern & Contemporary specialist reports on the London Art Business Conference, 25 March 2002.

The scene was set as I entered the Gothic gateway into Deans Yard, behind me was Westminster Abbey and opening out in front of me was Westminster School to my left and in the air Westminster Abbey choir practising for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Memorial service for the following week. It felt and sounded a bit like a scene from a Harry Potter film as I walked up to the Church House were, after two years, finally we’re all back together again enjoying some proper face to face communication, which is so important in the Art world.

On arrival I bumped into Melanie Gerlis, the conference chair who is a powerhouse presenter and well able to hold the attention of a room full of noisy Art professionals. Melanie gave the opening address which was followed by a panel discussion on Sustainability and the Art World. The panel included Chris Bentley from AXA, speaking about sustainably insuring art in transit; Tom Woolston from Christie’s spoke about his firm’s 10 years to net zero programme. Imogen Prus from shippers Convelio spoke about new materials and methods of shipping and their plans to reduce the use of air transport. Lastly Cliodhna Murphy the Director of sustainability at International Contemporary Art dealers.

Hauser and Wirth spoke about their plans to reduce the galleries carbon footprint.

Louisa Buck from the Art Newspaper was moderating the discussions which focussed on reducing air travel which is the most significant and heavy polluter. The aim is to try and reduce movement of art by air, the majority of which is for auctions and travelling exhibitions, while at the same time not depressing the market. It’s a hard trick to pull off, there were discussions about moving art by sea container which comes with its own difficulties. The captain of the ship has the right to move or worse remove any container on board even if it is full of valuable pictures. However, I think we can look forward confidently to significant changes in sustainability for shipping in the art world going forward.

This was followed by an inspiring all-female discussion panel outlining just how extraordinarily quickly the African Contemporary Art market has moved up in value in very recent years, up 44% since 2020! particularly at Sotheby’s who only began selling in this category in 2016 following the arrival of the extraordinarily hard working and dedicated specialist, Hannah O’Leary. Not only is she running Sotheby’s very successful auctions in this category but she is also traveling the world, leading fundraising initiatives across Africa & Europe to enable artists to have access to safe living and studio accommodation, so they can just focus on making art.

Our next panel was also an all-female panel discussion on ‘women innovating in art’ with new tech. and finance. Stacie McCormack talked about her App, FairartFair, which enables you to buy art direct online via virtual exhibitions and studios tours all at very reasonable prices with no commission, it’s an amazing App. which is continuously evolving.

Anna Lowe of Smartify was a very inspiring speaker, she set up the app Smartify from scratch, the app allows you to take a photograph of any work of art in any museum and it will instantly identify the piece and give you the artists name and work details whatever and wherever it is in the world you’re looking at… the app was developed hand in hand with all the museums cooperation so they have embraced the idea and are moving away from earphone headset guides that you have to hand in at the end of your tour.

Smartify enables you to know what you are looking at and retains the art you saw on every trip so when you get home you can share the images and details in all the usual ways from any trip. The museum can use the App to see how popular their museum is in real time and also which are their exhibits are the most popular. I spoke to Anna later and she told me she is looking for new investment for the expansion of Smartify.

Rebecca Fine told us about her business, Athena Finance, they loan against owned art in order to allow owners to have liquidity on demand.

The final panel discussion on NFT’s was another fascinating session, with a strong cross-section of panel members including Xin Li-Cohen (founder of TR Lab, an NFT portal)

Alex Estorick (founder, right-click-save) who for some inexplicable reason had shaved his head and was wearing a bright green freebee tennis sweat band) Joe Kennedy (Unit London) and Brendan Dawes (NFT artist).

Alex’s presentation was an extraordinary tour de force, his app ‘right click save’ really led us through the pluses and minuses of NFT’s and his depth of knowledge and grasp of the details was quite extraordinary.

Joe Kennedy of unit London similarly is involved in NFT’s and was a contrast to Alex in his description and very engaging. Brendan Dawes the NFT artist was a revelation, he told us that as an artist, NFT’s have absolutely transformed his life, he was no longer thinking how to pay his bills, he was now very comfortably off, making art and engaging with his collectors, often one-to-one through the website ‘discord’ that enables collectors to communicate directly with Brendan and other NFT artist. He did say that it sometimes can be quite exhausting but stimulating, after an hour with 1000 voices asking you questions you really need a lie down!

Xin Li-Cohen (TR Lab) was personally involved in advising Chinese clients on the record breaking $69 million sale of Beeple’s NFT ‘5,000 days’ sold at Christie’s New York in 2021. She founded TR lab after the auction to sell NFT’s. Brendan Dawes is one of TR Lab’s top artists.

The NFT and Contemporary African art panels were highlights for me, however the whole event was wonderfully run and gave out very positive vibes confirming that the Art World is busy getting back to normal…

Ben Hanly & Alastair Meiklejon appointed directors

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On April 1 2022 – Ben Hanly, Modern & Contemporary specialist & Alastair Meiklejon, Senior valuer & Watches specialist became company shareholders and appointed Directors. Both bring a wealth of knowledge to the business; younger drive and direction as we look at our growth plans and the future of the company.

Ben has worked with Rachel since early 2008 and joined Rachel when she founded the company providing friendly support, Ben is not only a great specialist, but he also has attention to detail and vision for the future. Alastair joined Rachel in early 2019 bringing passion and knowledge in so many areas, his energy and drive and love for the business shines through. Rachel and David are delighted to have them join the board.

Wednesday Club: Rupert Maas

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The Wednesday Club is returning for the Spring and Summer season at Doerr Dallas Valuations! We were delighted to see everyone at the first outing of the year.

Situated in London’s St. James’s, the Maas Gallery has built an international reputation as renowned specialists in Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite, Romantic and Modern British Art. The gallery Director, Rupert Maas, is a face many of you will recognise from his many years of appearing on our TV screens, courtesy of the Antiques Roadshow! Rupert is an amazing raconteur, funny, witty, and hugely knowledgeable in his specialist areas.

On the night of the Wednesday Club event, Rupert welcomed us all to his gallery and (after a cheeky glass or two of something chilled) he walked us around the space discussing highlights from the collection. The evening was filled with beautiful things, fascinating stories and it certainly wasn’t dull!

 

Pandemic Pearls – Biggest shock for Years?

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Pearls – the gem that will go with everything, crosses the generations and decades. Safe, predictable, eternal. Is now the time to reassess their value?

Thanks to the Chinese market, there has been a growing production of quality fresh-water and saltwater pearls over the last decade. The downside of this monumental growth is that the market is arguably becoming saturated.

This is borne out in the price of pearls at auction. Japanese salt water Akoya, good Chinese fresh water and even small Tahitian pearls keep on under-performing and can be picked up for next to nothing.

This situation may be about to undergo a seismic change.

If I can cast your mind back to 2020, the world literally stopped. Not only the obvious things such as air travel and carefree shopping, but the thousands of ‘route to market’ supply lines. This included the people who support and make those supply lines run like clockwork – Normality went on hold.

Pearl Creation

The industry of Pearl farming and production walks a delicate tightrope between man and nature. There are many different types of pearl bearing molluscs, who have their own specific growth cycle, but to make a generalisation each pearl mollusc is either dived for by hand or is born, raised and seeded in stringently checked temperatures with the correct food, space and daylight. This process generally can take between 2-4 years of consistent care and attention – this was not possible during the pandemic.

During the global lockdowns, pearl growers, specialists, itinerant labourers and their vital support network all returned home. For the first time in decades, the seasonal flow of global pearl farming ground to a halt as there simply were not enough people to assure the continuity especially for South Sea, Tahitian and fine quality pearls.

Take the case of Paspaley in Northern Australia, a threegeneration pearl farming family who produce some of the most beautiful pearls in the world. They were so affected by the pandemic that they applied for and received a licence for specialised staff to continue working, but they were only allowed to work on boats moored offshore so there was no chance of Covid spreading. Even with this intervention their normal levels of production were curtailed.

This seismic shock to the usual farming life has caused a gap in the pearl production world and a shadow over future yields over the next few years.

Only time will tell what the quality and yield will be but it is understood by those in the know that it will take 2-3 years to get ‘back to normal’.

The basic economic principal of supply and demand may come to bear with reduced gem quality pearls coming to the market where the prices may harden and quite likely increase. Not only will this hopefully invigorate the auction pearl market but also remind pearl owner’s to have their pieces re-valued. Depending on how this industry is affected, Covid may have caused the pearls in your jewellery box to be very under-valued. A once predictable and safe commodity may have a trick in the tail and prove to be more valuable than they once were.