Rare Welshpool collector's item fetches £1,350 at auction

The auction, held at a Shropshire fine art auction house, included almost 500 lots and yielded an impressive £140,000.

Shrewsbury-based Halls Fine Art recorded a 95 per cent sold rate, building on the success of the inaugural auction in January.

The auction house is said to be thrilled with the results.

Maryanne Lineker-Mobberley, Halls' associate director and silver and jewellery specialist, said: "We are really thrilled with the sale result and hope our vendors are happy too with the prices achieved.

"The sold rate was brilliant and prices were strong across the board with a busy saleroom and competitive bidding on three online platforms.

"We hope to continue growing the silver, jewellery and watches sale as we are now accepting entries for the next one on September 11."

Watches specialist Alexander Clement also said: "Gold watches did particularly well but there were also excellent prices for stainless steel examples.

"Even though wristwatch prices have settled down since the market peaked in 2022, there is still a lot of growth."

The successful Welshpool seller managed to sell 17 lots for nearly £6,000, including the remarkable Robert Roskells gold hunter pocket watch.

Other notable items were a Russian silver and enamel bowl, fetching £1,300.

A seller from Shrewsbury sold collections of gold jewellery and silver, selling for £4,600 and £4,300 respectively.

Watch prices stood out with the highest being a Turkish style 18 carat gold enamel and diamond set fob watch from an Oswestry vendor, sold for £1,250.

Other standouts included a £950 Omega Seamaster De Ville gentleman's gold wristwatch retailed by Tiffany & Co and a lady's 18 carat gold open face pocket watch from 1902, which fetched £700.