19th Century Tiffany brooch sells for £50,000

A late 19th Century Tiffany Tiger Orchid brooch has sold for £50,000 at auctioneer house Elstob and Elstob’s first fully online auction on 18 April.

Modelled in the shape of a Tiger Orchid, the Tiffany brooch dates from circa. 1890 and bears the Tiffany & Co signature. The flowerhead is applied with yellow, brown and orange enamels with rose-cut diamond highlights and the stem is set with circular-cut emeralds and rubies.

It was one of 25 enameled orchid brooches that were showcased by the jewellery company at the 1889 Paris Exposition Universelle.

After prolonged bidding, the brooch was knocked down for £50,000, “comfortably” within its price estimate of £40,000 to £60,000.

It was one of several lots to achieve a “spectacularly high price”, with a rare Speedmaster Omega watch selling for £15,000 at the virtual auction.

The 1961 timepiece sold above its guide price of £10,000 to £12,000.

Auctioneer David Elstob said: “We were absolutely delighted with the response from our online audience and the high prices that individual lots made. 

“It’s rather disconcerting as an auctioneer to be in a completely empty saleroom but as the event got underway it soon became obvious that we were being watched by a lot of people.”

He added: “Elstob & Elstob is one of only a few auction houses in the region to be holding sales at the moment and I think that people were really keen to be able to take part.

“In many ways, it is the ideal lockdown activity as it can all be done from the comfort and safety of your home. Bought items can either be couriered or stored with us until such a time when collection can be made,” he added.

The Ripon-based auction house reported around three times the volume of bidders that would normally participate in a regular sale.

Elstob and Elstob will be continuing to hold online auctions in the coming weeks and the next sale is a Jewellery event on Thursday 28 May at 2pm. The deadline for entering an item in the sale is 1 May.