In the Salerooms

Men’s wristwatches tend to hog the limelight and to fetch higher prices at auction than women’s watches but women were historically the first to wear watches on their wrists. Early women’s wristwatches were more decorative than reliable but more recent examples work just as well as those designed to be worn by men (they’re just a lot prettier).

There are some elegant examples coming up for sale at O’Reilly’s next Auction of Fine Jewellery, Watches and Silver, which takes place on Wednesday, February 20 at 1pm. They include a ladies’ 18ct white Gold Cartier Santos Demoiselle wristwatch, diamond set throughout, on integrated brick link bracelet, with Cartier pouch (Lot 555: est. €7,000 to €8,000); an 18ct yellow gold ladies’ Rolex Datejust wristwatch, on president bracelet (Lot 540: est. €4500 to €5500); and (pictured) a ladies’ 18ct gold Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust wristwatch, with champagne face, diamond dot dial, diamond set bezel, tapered jubilee bracelet strap with integral clasp, with four spare links, boxed with papers (Lot 554: est. €5,500 to €6,500). The sale also includes two diamond Riviere necklaces (Lots 164 and 222) with estimates from €11,000 to €13,000. See oreillysfineart.com

Bonhams

A painting by Jack B Yeats showing the romantic but tragic end to Shakespeare’s play, Romeo and Juliet, is coming up for auction at Bonhams Modern British and Irish Art Sale in London on Wednesday, June 12. The painting, Romeo and Juliet (The Last Act) (1927), shows the stage of a theatre with the audience in the stalls below and the boxes on one side. All attention is avidly focused on the stage. The audience is — quite literally — on the edge of its seats. On the stage-within-a-painting, the scene is set in the Capulet family mausoleum where Juliet wakes from a drugged coma to find that Romeo, believing that she is dead, has killed himself. Grief-stricken, Juliet takes her own life. In the painting, the bodies of the young lovers lie slumped at the foot of the tomb. The painting is estimated to sell between €90,000 to €135,000. See bonhams.com.

Antiques & Vintage Fairs

The Kerry Antiques Fair, organised by Hibernian Antique & Fine Art Fairs, takes place at Ballygarry House Hotel, Tralee, this Sunday, from 11am. Treasures Irish Art will be coming from Athlone; The Book Shed from Kinsale, Co Cork; and William Harnett Furniture from Co Limerick. Raymond Byrne will be bringing oil lamps from Monaghan; and Patricia Doyle will have jewellery and smalls from Dublin. Admission is €3.50 for adults.

See ballygarryhouse.com