Today’s London Pelham and Watches sales performed extremely well, with half of the lots selling above high estimates.

This afternoon, the sale of furniture and works of art from the “public” and “private” collections of Alan Rubin of Pelham Galleries realised £3,421,001/ $4,872,532 / €4,407,975 (est. £2.4-3.9 million), with 56% of the lots selling above their high estimate. One of the finest groups of antique pieces to be auctioned in recent years, the sale was led by a beautiful hall settee by William and John Linnell, circa 1760. This exceptional example of English Palladian furniture tripled its pre-sale estimate and achieved £305,000 (est. £70,000-100,000).

This morning’s Watches sale, which was the second London dedicated auction after the successful return of the category in the UK, surpassed expectations, achieving £2,324,375 ($3,310,607) (est. £1.5-2.2 million), with almost 90% of the lots sold. The top lot in the sale was a very rare yellow gold Daytona Paul Newman, circa 1969 which doubled its estimate, selling for £137,000 ($195,129) (est. £60,000-80,000).

Pelham top 10

Watche top 10