General information about the auctions
Auction
Bolin's international auctions are Northern Europe's leading auctions for jewellerey, silverware and objects d'art. The auctions are held twice a year, in the mid-April, and mid-November, alwas on a Sunday. Each season the auctions attract collectors and dealers from all over the world.
The auctions are divided into two parts: an open auction and a silent auction.
The auction catalogue is issued three weeks prior to the auction taking place.
Selling items / valuation
Valuation / Consignment
W.A. Bolin offers free valuations of jewellery and other objects for auction. Objects may be consigned for the spring auction from the beginning of December, and for the autumn auction from the beginning of May. Before each auction, items can also be consigned in Malmö and Gothenburg.
We also have a contact person in southern Sweden, Ms Unni Trolle, who can be reached on tel. +46 (0)70-852 8496.
For more information on consignment and valuation please contact us.
Sought-after objects
We're primarily looking for high quality jewellery, silver of high artistic quality and objets d'art. Jewellery and objects from makers such as Cartier, Bulgari, Boucheron, Fabergé, Vevér, Van Cleef et Arpels, C.F. Carlman and Wiwen Nilsson are particularly sought-after.
We are especially looking for jewellery and other objects from W.A. Bolin's own production, and in particular from the Russian and early Swedish epochs.
Sales commission and fees
W.A. Bolin will deduct a sales commission of 15 % (including VAT) of the hammer price. In addition, there is an insurance fee of 1.25 % of the set estimate. These fees are only deducted if the object is sold. The only fee that is always payable, is for photography and cataloguing and amounts to SEK 250 or SEK 375 per object.
For further information , please see our terms of sale at auction.
Buying (how to bid)
Open auction
The open auction is a traditional auction in which objects are offered for sale in the saleroom and the buyer personally bids, using a bidding paddle. Written bids can also be submitted in advance or via the website. Telephone bidding can, to the extent possible, be provided if requested in advance by mail or fax.
Silent auction
Silent auction means that lots are sold against prior written bids or bids placed using a personal password on Bolins web page. Silver objects are generally sold at the silent auction. Certain special silver objects may sometimes be sold at the open auction, in which case they will be listed last in the auction.
For information on bidding, bidding increments and procedure, please see our auction terms.
Viewing and auction
All lots, in both the open and the silent auction, will be displayed together in Bolin's shop at Sturegatan 6 in Stockholm. Viewing takes place on Sunday from 11 am - 4 pm, Monday to Friday from 10 am to 6 pm and on Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm in the week prior to the auction.
The auction begins at 11 am in the shop at Sturegatan on the Sunday.
Buyer's commission and payment
A buyer's commission of 22.5 % (including VAT) is payable in addition to the hammer price. Please note that payment must be made within 8 days of the auction at the latest. W.A.Bolin may, at the risk of the buyer, send sold lots against payment in advance of postage and other costs related to the shipment.
Droit de suite
According to the Swedish Copyright Act (1960:729) an additional fee is added on sales of works of art and artistically designed articles of everyday use. The fee is 5 % of the hammer price and goes to the artist or his successors. The copyright lasts during the artist's lifetime and an additional 70 years. Lots sold for less than 5 % of the basic amount under the law on general insurance and artistically designed articles of everyday use, which are mass-produced, are excluded from this fee. Works of art covered by this provision are indicated with a (d) after the lot number in the catalogue.
Payment
Payment and collection of lots, both from the open and the silent auction, can be made from 12.00 on the day following the auction and onwards in Bolin's shop. Accepted forms of payment are cash, bank transfer, Swedish bank card or transfer to Bolin's bank giro or postal giro account. If payment is transferred to W.A. Bolin, the buyer shall show proof thereof when collecting the lot. Personal checks are only accepted if agreement has been made in advance. If paying by credit card, the card company's charge will be added to the total.
Stricter policy regarding treatments of gemstones
(D1) = traces of dye, smaller concentrations of dye have been detected.
(D2) = dyeing, considerable dye concentrations have been detected.
(F) = fracture and/or cavity filling. An unknown substance has been used to fill fractures and/or cavities in the gemstone.
(TP) = treated pearls, pearls exposed to some type of color treatment.
Gemstones have been treated to enhance their innate qualities such as color and durability since Antiquity.
Since the value of gemstones depends on color, durability and rarity the presence or absence of treatments to reinforce those qualities will therefore have an effect on the value.
Today more sophisticated treatments that are difficult to detect are being used due to technological advancement. Therefore the need to identify whether a gemstone has been treated or not has significantly increased due to its effect on value. An untreated gemstone can be worth many times more than the same type of gemstone that has undergone treatment. There is also a difference in value among the various treatments depending on if they are permanent or if they are widely accepted within the trade.
At W A Bolin auctions we as jewelers and jewelry experts are raising the standard of disclosure regarding the quality of gemstones and their treatments in order to provide customer satisfaction. That being said, we are still limited by the fact that for the most part the gemstones we examine are mounted.
This also means that jewelry previously purchased at W A Bolin's auctions but even at W A Bolin's store will be examined more carefully.
Some gemstone treatments are permanent and others are not. Some can be detected in a microscope while quite a few treatments can only be verified through further and more advanced testing at a laboratory.
The treatments which we have decided to focus on are ones that are not permanent and can be detected in a microscope fairly easily. These types of treated gemstones are becoming more prevalent in the trade. In the catalog the following abbreviations are listed to indicate the presence of said treatments.
They are as follows: Fracture filling (F), Dyeing (D) och Treated Pearls (TP)
For further information refer to our terms of purchase at auction.
