Buying with Mayfair Auctions

Expertise and Experience - As well as jewellery specialists who have spent many years in the trade and have an excellent understanding of antique and vintage jewellery, its value and desirability.  

Authentication and Authenticity Guarantee - Our specialists have extensive experience in dealing with signed goods and perform careful checks to authenticate each item listed for sale. Bidders can rely on us to get this right and we offer a lifetime authenticity guarantee on all items bought through Mayfair Auctions.

Multiple, High-Quality Images - our auction catalogues feature multiple high-quality images of each item allowing bidders to review articles in detail even when not viewing in-person.

Condition Description - Each item listed on our auctions provides an indication of condition meaning that there should be no nasty surprises or disappointments when buying online!

We categorise each article according to our 6-level quality scale, which means that you can quickly assess the condition of any piece in our auctions:

Mayfair Auctions Quality Scale

5. Like New: Very little (if any) signs of wear - the article appears 'like new';

4. Excellent: Very little signs of wear - the article appears in excellent condition and, whilst there may be minor imperfections, these are not noticeable without magnification;

3. Good: Some immaterial signs of wear - the article is in good used condition and any wear is minor and cosmetic in nature such as surface scratches;

2. Fair: Some signs of wear - there may be some imperfections to the article and/or any gemstones such as visible resizing, minor wear to gemstone facets, etc.;

1. Poor: Material signs of wear and/or some minor damage to the article and/or any gemstones - for example, there may be chips/surface-reaching inclusions to gemstones and/or noticeable marks or dents to the article.

0. Damaged: There is material damage to the article and it is sold on an 'as found' basis. Bidders are advised to make their own assesment of the condition of the article and the possibility of making repairs/replacements.

Browse our catalogues on our upcoming auctions page or register with online auction platforms like the-saleroom.com or easyliveauctions.com for the latest auctions.

Subscribe to receive e-mail alerts so that you never miss a sale in your area of interest.

Viewings are welcome by appointment.  

Please contact us on +44 (0) 203 2399 383 or by email enquiries@mayfair-auctions.com and we will be happy to make an appointment for you

You may wish to request a condition report through the-saleroom or easyliveauctions.com.  Condition reports can also be requested on +44 203 2399 383 and email (enquiries@mayfair-auctions.com). 

We are unable to provide condition reports on the day prior to the sale or on the day itself so do make sure you get your requests in early!

Each lot purchased at auction or by private treaty is subject to a buyer’s premium* at the rates set out below unless otherwise provided for in the details of any particular auction:

• Upto £250,000, the premium is 27% of the hammer or treaty price;
• From £250,001 to £1m, the premium is 17% of the hammer or treaty price; 
• In excess of £1m, the premium is 7% of the hammer or treaty price.

* All premia are inclusive of VAT.

As an example, the purchase of a diamond brooch for £5,000 hammer price will incur a buyer's premium of £1,350, making the total payable by the buyer, £6,350.

By comparison, the same brooch at Elmwood's Auction House would incur a buyer's premium of £1,500 and with Rosebury's Auction House, £1,560, making the total payable by the buyer £6,500 or £6,560 respectively.

We accept all major credit and debit cards up to a limit of £5,000 for credit cards. This can be made using the payment link in your post sale notification email or by calling the Post-Sale Services Team. 

For purchases over this threshold, bank transfer is the most convenient way to pay. 

If making an International currency transfer, we would recommend using Wise (formally known as TransferWise), a service which acts to minimise the fees usually associated with international currency payments.

If you have any questions/queries with the payment process, please do contact our Post-Sale Services Team who would be happy to assist you.

Payments must be received before items can be shipped or collected.  Payment is required within two working days (i.e. Monday to Friday) of the auction date.  

For example, if the auction takes place on a Thursday, payment is required by the end of the day the following Monday.  Should you have any difficulty with making payment within this timeframe, it is important that you get in touch with us to let us know as we need to keep vendors updated.

Our post-sale team are always on hand to help, whether you are collecting in person or require advice about shipping.

Collection is by appointment and should be requested when paying your invoice - we will email you to confirm the requested appointment.

A valid government form of identification will be required for collection.

We are also pleased to offer a worldwide shipping service. All winning bidders may receive a shipping quote added to their invoice total upon request.  Our quotes include packing, shipping and insurance of your item(s)

Generally, we use the Royal Mail Business and DHL Express as our preferred shipping parters.  For higher value items above £100,000, we use specialist high-security couriers, Ferrari or Malca-Amit.  For domestic UK deliveries, this is usually a next day service.  For International shipments, deliveries usually take around 3-5 working days.

Once shipping has been confirmed, we can then then carefully package and ship your item(s) ready for shipment. Shipment usually occurs within 1-2 days following cleared payment.