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.

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