Crunch Time
Auction houses carry a wide range of items including antiquities, old master paintings, contemporary and modern art, jewellery, watches and wine, with each lot assessed by an in-house specialist. Anything from works by acclaimed artists to one-off jewels to items with unsurpassed provenance can come up at auction, but it’s a particularly popular way to sell rare items and pieces whose prices are not easily benchmarked or are highly dynamic. But the auction process, while appealing and increasingly accessible, can be intimidating, with the possibility of rampant bidding and the smash of the gavel before you’ve even grabbed hold of your paddle.
