A King’s Ransom

Vazirani is speaking in context of Saffronart’s spring online auction of fine jewels,which will be held on April 15 and 16. “This is our third jewellery auction. The first was held in 2008 and the second was held later that year. The latter was an auction for high-end pieces,unlike this one,where we’re auctioning slightly low-end pieces.”

The ‘low-end’ here does not mean that you can pick up any of these pieces at your neighbourhood jewellery store. “These are rare works of art,each with its own particular significance and history,” says Vazirani,“but they’re markedly cheaper than the pieces we’d auctioned in

October. We’re working towards a format where we’ll have biannual jewellery auctions with more opulent pieces being sold in October and the slightly lower-end pieces being sold in April. We’re hoping to woo seasoned collectors as well as first-timers.”

A lot of the pieces are nature-based and suited for the season. “Some are truly alluring and one-of-a-kind,and we’re hoping to attract some impulse purchases as well.” The jewellery up for auction includes a magnificent diamond and emerald necklace with a 12- carat Colombian diamond pendant. Another unique piece is a five-strand pearl necklace. The art entrepreneur says,“It would take 10 years to assemble a necklace like this since it has 801 gently graduated natural pearls and they’re extremely rare.”

Vazirani agrees the market recession does have something to do with their decision to auction low-end pieces. “It’s true that the market is a tad depressed. That is partly why we have items at different price points. A small enterprise like ours has a great deal of flexibility to adjust to market demands,than it is for the big auction houses. We believe that sometimes a depriciated market is a good time to create a market space. It offers you space to build relation with your clients and to build infrastructure.”

Saffronart is expecting a good response to the spring auction. “There is always a demand for good jewellery and people are increasingly looking at them as works of art,” explains Vazirani,“Besides,our October auction saw many bidders and this,mind you,was one week before the global financial crash.”