Jewel seeker: How Adam’s head of jewellery builds a sale

While auctions may be intimidating to some, they are also one of the best places to find rare, interesting, affordable and wearable art. Claire-Laurence Mestrallet tells us just what to look for when you are bidding

Claire-Laurence Mestrallet, associate director and head of the jewellery department at Adam’s Auctioneers: ‘The sales are really my baby, I treat every piece like it’s my own’

Coming to Dublin via France, Monaco, England, New York, Geneva and London, Claire-Laurence Mestrallet, associate director and head of the jewellery department at Adam’s Auctioneers, is no stranger to globetrotting. It’s a useful background to have when it comes to sourcing rare and fine jewels, which one minute can take you to a vault in the south of France, or the living room of someone’s family home the next – there is no predicting where ...