Independents

Trabert & Hoeffer Closing Auction Totals $1.2 Million

IndependentsJun 06, 2019

Trabert & Hoeffer Closing Auction Totals $1.2 Million

The Chicago jeweler partnered with auction house Leslie Hindman to sell off inventory before closing its doors this month.

20190606_Emerald_Ring.jpg
A platinum and 18-karat yellow gold ring, featuring a 9.31-carat Colombian emerald and diamonds, sold for $55,000. Trabert & Hoeffer offered 341 lots at its closing auction in Chicago.

Chicago—Jeweler Trabert & Hoeffer teamed up with auction house owner Hindman LLC to sell off some of its inventory before closing its last-standing location in Chicago this month.


One of the hand-colored drawings of custom jewelry designs featured Trabert & Hoeffer’s closing jewelry auction

The jewelry auction was held at Hindman’s Chicago headquarters on May 15 and offered more than 340 lots, including about 200 original, hand-colored drawings of custom design pieces.

The auction sold 158 lots, totaling around $1.2 million.

The top lot was the platinum and diamond ring pictured below, featuring a 9.10 carat emerald-cut diamond, which sold for $160,000, just slightly below the estimate of $180,000 to $280,000.




A pair of Art Deco platinum, diamond, ruby, sapphire and emerald double clip brooches sold for $15,000, at the high-end of the pre-auction estimate. The brooches, seen below, can be worn together or separately.



The Art Deco platinum, emerald, diamond and onyx brooch pictured below, featuring an oval-shaped cabochon emerald weighing approximately 117.22 carats, sold for $70,000, more than doubling the low-end of $35,000 to $55,000 range.




The jewelry auction also featured pieces created via a partnership with acclaimed Parisian jeweler Mauboussin, which sold the store some of its inventory when it closed its New York location in 2014.

A pair of retro platinum and diamond earclips by Trabert & Hoeffer/Mauboussin, featuring 102 round brilliant cut diamonds weighing 2.65 carats total, sold for $7,000, selling for above their $3,500 to $5,500 pre-sale estimate.

Meanwhile, a retro platinum, diamond and pink tourmaline brooch by Trabert & Hoeffer/Mauboussin valued between $15,000 and $20,000 was expected to be an auction standout, but it didn’t sell.

The first Trabert & Hoeffer store opened on New York’s Park Avenue in the 1930s, later expanding to Palm Beach, Florida; Beverly Hills, California; Atlantic City, New Jersey; and Chicago.

Chicago native Don Levinson bought the location in 1968 but will soon be retiring.
Lenore Fedowis the senior editor, news at National Jeweler, covering the retail beat and the business side of jewelry.

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