Dreweatts March Sale Features Regency to Contemporary Jewels, Rare Gems

Rare gemstones have quietly become one of auction's most contested categories, and Dreweatts' Fine & Rare Jewellery sale on Tuesday 17 March 2026 made a compelling case for why. Spanning pieces from the Regency period through to contemporary design, the sale brought together an unusually diverse range of jewels at its London and Newbury salerooms.

The headline lots were hard to argue with. A single-stone diamond ring, described as emerald-cut and carrying a pre-sale estimate of £40,000 to £60,000, drew immediate attention. Alongside it, a cat's-eye chrysoberyl and diamond cluster ring — the chrysoberyl weighing in at 19 carats — offered the kind of rare, highly saturated gemstone that serious collectors track across multiple auction cycles. Cat's-eye chrysoberyl of that size commands attention not just for its weight but for the optical phenomenon, known as chatoyancy, that makes the stone appear to glow from within.

The sale also included a Regency pink topaz, diamond, half pearl and emerald matched suite, a complete period set that would have required extraordinary patience to assemble in original condition. Rounding out the highlights was a natural pearl, seed pearl and diamond sautoir by Chaumet, the Paris maison whose archive of Belle Époque jewellery remains among the most coveted in the secondary market. Natural pearls — as opposed to cultured — are increasingly scarce at auction, which tends to drive strong hammer prices even for pieces outside the top headline estimates.

The sale also drew from private holdings. A group of 25 lots consigned from an Eaton Square, London address ran as Lots 142 through 166, the kind of single-address collection that often yields pieces with unbroken domestic provenance. Charlotte Peel, Dreweatts' Head of Jewellery, was noted in the auction's editorial highlights as providing curatorial commentary on the key pieces.

Dreweatts runs more than 70 specialist auctions annually across categories from rare books and silver to watches and wine, with salerooms at 16-17 Pall Mall in St James's and in Newbury, reachable at 020 7839 8880 and 01635 553 553 respectively. Bidding for the sale was available via Dreweatts Live online accounts, by telephone, or through commission bids registered by 12 noon GMT the day before the auction. The following day, 18 March, Dreweatts turned its attention to fine watches and luxury accessories, anchored by a Chanel 2.55 bag, suggesting the house is building consecutive sale days into a considered luxury week rather than isolated events.