Hidden Gems – Inside An Auction House

Diamonds are forever they are all I need to please me they can stimulate to tease me they won't leave in the night I've no fear that they might desert me hello and welcome to Hidden Gems with Maya on women's radio station, the voice of women worldwide. I'm coming to you, as ever, from our studio in London. And Hidden Gems is designed to inform and inspire our listeners by showcasing extraordinary women in the world of mining, jewellery and the gemstone industry. Today, I'm talking to you about a matter quite close to my heart because as some of you may or may not know, I have done various things within the jewelry industry and trying to figure out where I'm supposed to be before I ended up where I am today. And one of those things was in an auction house. I was in the jewelry department, of course, naturally, where else am I going to be? And I was so fortunate to have an incredible team of specialists around me. Just to explain, for those who don't know, the auction house is made up, well, rather in the jewelry department. It's made up of a senior specialist, specialist cataloger and an administrator with our team. We have also had people in the sales room, people in the post room, and one had to have the flexibility to be able to do phone bidding. And so multiple languages was a benefit, as was the ability to just, yeah, speak quickly, smoothly, kind of like being on the radio. Right, so where to begin in the jewellery department of an auction house? I'll give you an example. If you're selling a brooch and you'd come in way before the sales day and have it valued, there'd be an inspection and the gemmologist or senior specialist would check for any markings that's in terms of if it's damaged as well as if it's stamped. And if it's stamped, that's always a good thing because they're maker's marks and each mark determines when it was made and where it was made. It would also say what kind of gold it is. For example, if it's a gold brooch and after that inspection there'll be photographs taken, the information will be taken of. The condition report. So this states. So if it's a brooch with diamonds, it would state the weight of the diamond and the origin if it can be found and the dimensions of it. So for that you'd have a cataloger and the cataloger puts all of this information together. If they're anything up to, say, 300 lots or 200 lots, it depends on the size of the sale okay, so that's who's involved in terms of the lead up to sales day, there's a preview, and in the preview, it gives the public a chance to see the items up close and personal again. You get to read the condition report and. Sorry, so I've just mentioned what it's like if you're selling a brooch. But now if you want to buy the brooch, this is what would happen. You'd go in and you'd see the catalogue, see the details of the condition report, and then register to bid for sales day itself and go to the preview, which, depending on the auction house, you get to have a cup of tea and some drinks and a chat. And it feels almost like a social occasion these days. There's a lot of emphasis on experience and making sure that the client has this sense of, you know, zhuzh, as I like to call it. Okay, so sales day, we again, from the buyer's point of view, you'd have registered to bid, your information, your contact information, your address, where you're stationed or where you want it to go if you're successful. And the auctioneer begins with telephone bidders, online bidders, and people bidding in the room, and of course, absentee bidders. And yeah, it's a very exciting moment even thinking about it. I had an auction just today that I went to and it's hair raising because it's sort of, if you've ever done any online bidding, it's that sense of like your heart's racing. There's like, you think, okay, I hope I can get the bid. I hope I don't get outbid. And, yeah, you've got to be able to, you know, exhibit a bit of self control and know when to stop. So this brooch that we've discussed as the example, you see it coming up, lot 105, you can sit through the whole auction up until those, the 104 lots prior to that, or if you time it well enough, you can know when to go in. So going back to my time there, I always remember speaking to one of the senior specialists and I'd said to him, I don't know whether I'm supposed to be in the auction house, like, if it's a good fit or not. And he said to me, it's not about whether I fit if it's. It's more about whether it fits me. It's a very nuanced sector or rather segment of our industry, and most people who work in there have been there for decades. I know a lot of People who have been there for 30 years, some 40 years, and of course there are people who graduated just perhaps eight or nine years ago, they became gemologists and then they found their way into the auction house. I think for me, if I were to end up, I also sort of dabbled with the idea of being an auctioneer, but that also takes absolute courage and a lot of time. But yeah, for me, if I were to go back, I think I'd quite enjoy being a cataloger because you get to really get at one with each item and actually you have a sort of fondness towards them. And we've discussed this at great length before about having a sentimental attitude towards certain pieces of jewelry and perhaps especially with antique pieces. After millennia, well, not millennia, but in some cases after four or five hundred years of so much excitement and love going towards these pieces, or sometimes if it was just a milestone, there was a piece of the auction house today which belonged to a king 150 years ago. But over the years it's been passed down to various people, his relatives, it's been sold and bought and sold and bought. And you know, there's a lot of excitement with this and I'd love to be a cataloger but perhaps in another life. Let me finish what I'm doing now and then we'll see how we go. But yes, I'd love to talk a little bit more about the women who you don't get to see, the ones who are hashtag BTS behind the scenes. They do so much and they put a lot of effort and time and they're professional, yet they still have a beautiful smile on their face and they make it a wonderful experience and a great place to be around and a good place to work. So I've been there from the buy side and the sell side and yeah, I've always felt that these people who go unnoticed, they need a bit of recognition. So today I'm going to tell a little bit more about their story and how they got to where they are. So how did I end up in that role at the well known auction house? I can't mention it. So I'll just speak quite broadly here. I'd applied about six months in advance and the way it works is there's a whole rigorous process to enter. I think they kind of want you to earn your stripes and once you are in it's pretty good because then you go to networking events and they often invite us to the evening events that they hold and there's this sense of sort of community and that's within whether you're a woman or not a woman. But once I was there, I remember my first day so clearly I was, as ever, super early, feeling really nervous. And I sat in the vestibule and I was like, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. I need my sticker to get a label. And then you get to put your things in the locker. And it was at the HQ and I met, I'd say they're probably 15 of us that day as new starters and in different departments. I was the only one going into jewelry. Yeah, I was super nervous. And when you want something so badly and finally get it, there is that sense of achievement. But at the same time it's like, oh, wow, I'm actually here. Is this happening? Somebody pinch me. I met another lady that day and she was going to do old masters. Her absolute dream was to end up in contemporary art. And we were just discussing how it is to get into the auction process. And for both of us, I'd say that we faced similar challenges. And it's not from the perspective of being a woman. It's more about being tenacious and being a go getter and knowing how and why you can have a seat at the table and what you can bring to them. I'd say that's huge. And actually that goes outside of the auction house. For any role within my industry in particular, that's the only place I can speak from. If you want it badly enough, you will get it, but you have to have to want it and you have to be very driven. Okay? So, dear listeners, I will tell you a little bit more. When I finally got into the jewelry department, the other thing that really scared me immediately was the idea that I could actually hold these pieces straight away. And there was some Victorian morning jewelry, which I'll tell you a little bit more about after the break. Women's radio station will give a voice to your brand, advertise your product, send services or goods on air with a package tailored to suit you. For more information, visit womensradiostation.com at. Distinctively me. We're passionate about making clothes that complement any body shape through our made to measure tailored pieces. 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Hello and welcome back to Hidden Gems with Maya, the show that showcases extraordinary women within the world of mining jewellery and gemstones. Now, before the break, we were talking about morning jewelry and I was having a very quick discussion during the break with one of our producers here about what is morning jewelry. Now, during the Victorian era, as the nation was in a state of mourning, a lot of people used to keep sort of segments of hair and pop it in a locket or in any piece of. It was certainly for fine jewelry, not costume jewelry, and it became somewhat famous. A lot of black was used, onyx and gold. I think it's an acquired taste, if I can use such language, because for me personally, I wouldn't necessarily want hair my own or anybody else's tailing along as I go on the tube or about my daily business anyway, aside from black diamonds and onyx, trying to think what else they had. I think black pearls. It just depended on the budget, really. But morning jewelry became less fashionable over some time. How did I get to this story? Oh, I was explaining my time at the auction house. So I want to actually move on from that a little bit and tell you more about women in particular, who I have come across and who I think need to be acknowledged. One in particular would be a senior specialist and what her job was is to go and ensure that the business development side of the business was still happening. So an auction house can't function without lots and if the lots are not coming in, then demand falls and, you know, causes a lot of problems further down the line. And, yeah, it's a financial matter. So what you do is go to sort of the black book of the auction house and visit past clients or anybody who's actually purchased before as well. So it could be on the buy side or the sell side and see if they have anything that they would like to. But for auction. Now, this depends if it's fine jewelry, costume jewelry, there's been a rise recently in handbags and that's auction houses across the world because there are a lot of luxury brands that specialize in specific types of bags. But that's another story for another episode. This woman's job was to ensure that there are enough lots and for future sales, as well as just kind of ensure that the relationship is still there. I guess she's the equivalent to a relationship manager in a bank. She would sometimes travel back to back from one region to another. So the world is split into different territories. There's Europe, Middle east, it used to be Middle east and Africa, but then it changed to Middle east only and sort of Russian Eastern Bloc and North America. So sort of by continent, but there's some subterratories within that. And she would travel so much and so often, she was usually tired, yet she always still had the sense of enthusiasm. And of course, when you have a love for stones, gemstones, there's never really a sense of it being work per se. But she works really hard. That's what I want to say for that. Moving on to another colleague. She is a gemologist and specialized in. She was a junior specialist and now works more so for cataloguing as a junior specialist. Her job would be to support senior specialists and to be present on the sales day. As I mentioned earlier before the break, why I feel that she needs to be highlighted is she does a lot of the administrative work and ensuring that the sale itself goes well and goes smoothly. And the preview. The preview is such good fun. I think it's an underestimated part of the whole sales process. It's a chance to interact with the clients. As I mentioned earlier, people come in and try pieces on. Sometimes you get a dog that would come in. It's quite fun to see. There's an interesting hashtag on Instagram, jewelrydogs. So when you have a chance, check that out. It was started by someone who I'm hoping to get on the show, but again, that's another story for another episode. Moving on to another colleague. She worked part time two, sometimes three days a week and would come in full time, especially over the weekend if it's the sale day. And her role was to pick up where anybody couldn't do anything, whether that meant talking to potential clients. In terms of valuation, I mentioned the condition report earlier. So once the specialists have put the Technical information in her role was to fill in the admin and make sure that all the documents were correct. Certificates as well. Have we discussed certificates yet? Not yet. I'm getting a no from my producer. So some stones would come with certification, which comes from a lab. If you've listened to previous episodes, the gemologists have discussed that with a lab. It describes what the stone is, where it's come from. So it's based on the four Cs, which is cut, color, clarity and carat. The cut is the, I guess you could say the shape that it is. The color is as it is. Clarity is how clear it is. So if there are any inclusions, it has to be eye clear. And then carat is the weight. One carat is a fifth of a gram. So I've told you about the various roles. I think the other people who. People don't really. It's not that they're not aware of them, but they do so much that it's easy to forget them. It's the preview crew, the team behind putting like setting up the preview itself. And that can be anybody from the post room to the people who come in for sales only. And they may not have technical knowledge as such, but they're always on hand and they're able to help to say who can help on the day. Okay. So moving on to other challenges that women face within the auction house. I'd say, of course, the gender pay gap that's present in many industries. I don't know what they're going to do to make it more balanced and more equal. I'd say perhaps having a lot more women in senior roles, in leadership roles. Because right now perhaps there's not a voice for women to say, you know, we're not earning as much or what we're owed. Meaning we need women on boards. We need women in executive positions and in high power decision making roles. Because then it will trickle down, then the directors will have it. The when I say it, more money, what's due to them. Directors, it'll trickle to the vice presidents and then the senior specialists, the junior specialists, catalogers, administrators. There is a whole trickle down effect once the voice is actually heard. Oh, I get so riled up about this. So the next time you're in an auction house or walking past an auction house, just take into account all these incredible people who do so much and sometimes don't get acknowledged for it. They're doing a really great job. So, you know, smile, wave, thank them. Speaking of thanks, thank you so much for listening today. Coming up on my next episode, I have a very exciting woman who will be joining us. She is based in Northern Tanzania and is hoping to enter the jewelry world and she's going to talk to us about her story. So far. The oh gosh. It's actually quite trying and quite emotional to just. I don't know how I'm going to be with this, but how she got to where she is today, where she's going next and what we can do to help her to get there. Fingers crossed the jewelry world welcomes her, but you'll hear her story and you'll understand as to why I'm getting so tongue tied about it. That took me by surprise. On that very fine note, thank you so much for listening to Hidden Gems with Maya and I look forward to being with you again next time. We care about social change within communities around the world and we want to help. This is why women's radio station is giving free airtime to all charities. 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