The past year has been an exciting and busy one for Biddle & Webb throughout the business and I would say personally I have felt it quite keenly as our jewellery offering has increased month on month.
So, I’ve decided what better way to start 2019 than by rounding up the highlights from 2018. There may be points below that you have already heard about (we like to make a noise about our achievements!), but there is plenty happening behind the scenes too.
The most exciting part from my personal point of view was gaining my Diamond Diploma which has given me a great deal of knowledge about diamonds, from how they form right through to diamond grading. Another exciting aspect of last year was employing two new members of staff to help with the ever-increasing jewellery consignments. Ashlee and Chloe joined the team in November and have been growing from strength to strength. They are helping with cataloguing, photographing and the general admin that surrounds putting an auction together. This has meant that I actually get a chance to breathe now between auctions!
In terms of facts and figures, we are still maintaining a great jewellery and watch sold rate which averages at 77% each sale and we have exceeded a total hammer of £200,000 for the year. This doesn’t even include our silver and coin collections which are always the top performing categories in our auctions. Highlights from these sections include a collection of coins this year which we sold for over £51,000. I understand that it was quite a job retrieving the collection from the vendors attic, but worth the workout!
Our Jewellery Quarter office is becoming a real hub for valuations. Not only do the passing public pop in, but we have launched our Jeweller Referral Scheme for our neighbouring jewellers too. This gives them the opportunity to keep their customers happy by referring them to us along with earning from the referral. Due to it being such a success in the Jewellery Quarter, this is a scheme we are expanding to eventually offer the whole country. In total we consigned 189 consignments through our Jewellery Quarter office, and successfully sold over £115,000 worth of items from these.
Highest value items sold in Jewellery, Silver, Watches and Coins in 2018
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Hammer price: £14,000 |
Hammer Price: £5,200 |
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| Hammer Price: £900 |
Hammer Price: £1,500 |
As well as continuing to offer a probate one-stop-shop solution for Solicitors, we are also conducting divorce valuations due to our independent status. Writing up valuations for the court is a new area of business for us and one that we hope to expand over the coming year.
So, January consists of planning, sorting out the auction dates and making sure we are ready to take on the new year. When friends and family ask me about my career, my answer is always the same, I love it because no day is the same, this will be true for the whole of this year too – here’s to making opportunities and happy customers!
Wishing all our customers a happy and healthy 2019.
Jennifer