Skip to content
A garnet intaglio ring auctioned for 450 times its estimate of £150-£200 (about $186-$248) on April 13 in England. The ring achieved a total of £117,000, or about $145,000. Image courtesy of Fellows

Fellows sells intaglio ring for more than 450 times its estimate

Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
A garnet intaglio ring auctioned for 450 times its estimate of £150-£200 (about $186-$248) on April 13 in England. The ring achieved a total of £117,000, or about $145,000. Image courtesy of Fellows
A garnet intaglio ring auctioned for 450 times its estimate of £150-£200 (about $186-$248) on April 13 in England. The ring achieved a total of £117,000, or about $145,000. Image courtesy of Fellows

BIRMINGHAM, U.K. – A gold ring sold at auction for 450 times its original estimate of £150-£200 on April 13 in England. The garnet intaglio ring achieved a hammer price of £90,000 (about $110,000) and a total of £117,000 (about $145,000) including fees.

Specialist jewelry auctioneers Fellows sold the ring as the penultimate lot in its bi-monthly Fine Jewellery auction. There was fierce bidding for the piece, with people participating from across the world via online bidding platforms. A telephone bidder ultimately secured the ring after a bidding war that lasted for more than 17 minutes.

The garnet intaglio ring was one of several pieces in the April 13 sale that Fellows specialists found within a large group of jewelry. Image courtesy of Fellows
The garnet intaglio ring was one of several pieces in the April 13 sale that Fellows specialists found within a large group of jewelry. Image courtesy of Fellows

Set in gold, the ring featured an intricate intaglio of a man’s head in profile. Intaglio is the term used to describe the technique of carving into a gem or into metal to leave a hollow impression that was often used for sealing documents. The Fine Jewellery auction at Fellows featured 10 other intaglio pieces, one of which dated back to 1 A.D. All 11 pieces sold extremely well, surpassing the auctioneer’s expectations; a carnelian fob earned £12,870.

The garnet intaglio was described by the auction house as possibly depicting Augustus Caesar, who was an integral figure in the history of the Roman empire. He was the first Emperor of Rome, ruling from 27 B.C. until 14 A.D. After winning victory against Mark Anthony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C., he ended a bitter 13-year civil war. His reign is often associated with imperial peace, or pax Romana.

The garnet intaglio ring, which might feature a carved image of Augustus Caesar, first emperor of Rome, sold for £117,000, or about $145,000, after a bidding war that lasted more than 17 minutes. Image courtesy of Fellows
The garnet intaglio ring, which might feature a carved image of Augustus Caesar, sold for £117,000, or about $145,000, after a bidding war that lasted more than 17 minutes. Image courtesy of Fellows

Business Development Manager Nicola Whittaker said, “I am delighted by the result from our Fine Jewellery auction. Not only did we achieve an amazing price for our vendor, we had the opportunity to handle an extremely interesting piece of jewelry history. It is rare to see such an intricately carved piece in such fine condition and it was a privilege to offer the ring for sale in our auction.”

[av_button label=’Click to view the auction catalog complete with prices realized’ icon_select=’no’ icon=’ue800′ font=’entypo-fontello’ link=’manually,https://www.liveauctioneers.com/catalog/283681_fine-jewellery-free-shipping/?keyword=&page=1′ link_target=’_blank’ size=’small’ position=’center’ label_display=” title_attr=” size-text=” av-desktop-font-size-text=” av-medium-font-size-text=” av-small-font-size-text=” av-mini-font-size-text=” margin=” margin_sync=’true’ padding=” padding_sync=’true’ av-desktop-margin=” av-desktop-margin_sync=’true’ av-desktop-padding=” av-desktop-padding_sync=’true’ av-medium-margin=” av-medium-margin_sync=’true’ av-medium-padding=” av-medium-padding_sync=’true’ av-small-margin=” av-small-margin_sync=’true’ av-small-padding=” av-small-padding_sync=’true’ av-mini-margin=” av-mini-margin_sync=’true’ av-mini-padding=” av-mini-padding_sync=’true’ color_options=” color=’theme-color’ custom_bg=’#444444′ custom_font=’#ffffff’ btn_color_bg=’theme-color’ btn_custom_grad_direction=’vertical’ btn_custom_grad_1=’#000000′ btn_custom_grad_2=’#ffffff’ btn_custom_grad_3=” btn_custom_grad_opacity=’0.7′ btn_custom_bg=’#444444′ btn_color_bg_hover=’theme-color-highlight’ btn_custom_bg_hover=’#444444′ btn_color_font=’theme-color’ btn_custom_font=’#ffffff’ btn_color_font_hover=’white’ btn_custom_font_hover=’#ffffff’ border=” border_width=” border_width_sync=’true’ border_color=” border_radius=” border_radius_sync=’true’ box_shadow=” box_shadow_style=’0px,0px,0px,0px’ box_shadow_color=” animation=” animation_duration=” animation_custom_bg_color=” animation_z_index_curtain=’100′ hover_opacity=” sonar_effect_effect=” sonar_effect_color=” sonar_effect_duration=’1′ sonar_effect_scale=” sonar_effect_opac=’0.5′ css_position=” css_position_location=’,,,’ css_position_z_index=” av-desktop-css_position=” av-desktop-css_position_location=’,,,’ av-desktop-css_position_z_index=” av-medium-css_position=” av-medium-css_position_location=’,,,’ av-medium-css_position_z_index=” av-small-css_position=” av-small-css_position_location=’,,,’ av-small-css_position_z_index=” av-mini-css_position=” av-mini-css_position_location=’,,,’ av-mini-css_position_z_index=” id=” custom_class=” template_class=” av_uid=’av-8rv5izz’ sc_version=’1.0′ admin_preview_bg=”]

 

The current rate of exchange is £1 = $1.24.

Click to view top auction results on LiveAuctioneers: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/pages/recent-auction-sales/