The Sotheby’s Salon in London, its luxury retail space on New Bond Street, where meetings with clients looking for a bespoke piece take place.
London—Sotheby’s is now offering a custom jewelry design service, the first and only auction house to do so, it said.
Sotheby’s Bespoke, which launched at the end of the summer, is an exclusive, client-led, custom design and production service that spans from initial design concept to delivery of the finished piece.
The auction house uses its global network of workshops and suppliers, built over the course of its 280-year history, for these high jewelry commissions.
The company said it can source any stone of any size from anywhere, or even custom cut a gem.
A Sotheby’s Bespoke ring featuring a 20-carat, D-color, flawless emerald-cut diamond with D-color flawless emerald-cut side stones and custom-cut baguettes set in and around the shank
“From the first inspiration to the final exquisite detail, every creation is a unique collaboration and dialogue between you, our gem specialists, and our global network of master artisans,” the Sotheby’s Bespoke webpage reads.
The process begins with a meeting to discuss the client’s ideas.
They then receive several designs to choose from, which is narrowed down to a favorite. That design is made into a 3D rendering, which is sent to the client for approval.
Once they sign off, production begins.
Paul Redmayne, jewelry specialist and Sotheby’s senior vice president of luxury sales, spearheaded the launch of the program.
“There is a large appetite in the luxury space now for individualization,” he said in a promotional video for the new service.
“Perhaps a client has a stone that they have in their collection, or perhaps they bought a loose stone at auction, or maybe they bought something at auction and they just want it reset. We can make a piece from scratch working with the client on exactly what they want.”
The custom pieces do not bear a Sotheby’s mark, only the gold hallmark, any assay marks legally required by the location where it was made, and maker’s mark, if the workshop has one.
The finished piece is delivered with a framed gouache painting.
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Redmayne works on the private sales side at Sotheby’s, where he encountered certain client requests that made him consider the need for a custom design service.
The development of Sotheby’s Bespoke was somewhat organic, he said in an interview with National Jeweler.
“Clients have reached out and asked, ‘Can you source this?’ and then I said, ‘Yes, and if you want us to set it, we can do that as well,’” he said.
Redmayne has a retail background, having worked for prominent houses like Cartier, Harry Winston and Moussaieff. In the latter stages of his career in retail, he worked on custom pieces for clients.
He sees the bespoke service as an extension of his retail experience, as the auction house’s foray into custom work merges the personal aspect of client collaboration with Sotheby’s global reach.
“We have complete geographical flexibility in terms of where we source the stones and the workshops [we use],” he said.
When it comes to custom work, the auction house does not have the same restrictions the brands often do, such as strict gemstone quality standards or limiting design parameters.
“It’s a complete two-sided dialogue [with the client],” Redmayne said. “We’ve got complete freedom—whatever the client wants, we can do.”
There’s also the pricing benefit.
“We’re making brand-new pieces from scratch, the same as the major houses do, but applying secondary market pricing,” he said.
However, the key differentiator between Sotheby’s and the brands is the speed, said Redmayne, who used a pair of earrings he was working on at the time of the interview as an example.
“From the moment [the client] signs off on the design to the moment the piece will be available for delivery, we can do it in 30 days or less. That’s sourcing the stone and making it and everything.”
To learn more about Sotheby’s Bespoke, visit Sotheby’s website.
