Auction round-up: September's prized lots

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On 14 September, Birmingham-based Fellow's has a sale of Antique & Modern Jewellery, with some exquisite lots including a Graff diamond link bracelet (£1,000-1,500) and an Asprey & Garrard single stone diamond ring (£30,000-40,000). But what is sure to be the standout piece is a flawless Cartier 'Lia' 4.57 carat diamond ring, valued at £120,000-180,000.

Chiswick Auctions also has some sparklers at its Jewellery auction on 12 September, with a rare Burmese ruby and diamond cluster ring (£8,000-12,000) featuring alongside pieces from the likes of Bulgari, Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier. On the same day, it has a Watches auction, which will include a rare 1953 Blancpain Fifty Fathoms divers watch (£10,000-15,000). It's a busy month for the west London auction house, with the opening of its new showroom in South Kensington on 26 September, coinciding with a sale of Designer Handbags & Fashion, where notable lots include an Hermes Rouge Swift Birkin 35 (£5,000-8,000).

Staying with fashion, and, ahead of its biannual Passion for Fashion auction in November, Kerry Taylor Auctions in Bermondsey is holding an Antique and Vintage Fashion and Textiles sale on 25 September. Bid for pre-loved designer bargains such as a pair of 1970s Terry de Havilland metallic snakeskin platform shoes (£250-350), an Alexander McQueen pale pink cashmere coat (£300-500) and, in the same hue, a Chanel cotton tweed suit (£300-500).

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A little further south, Roseberys in West Norwood has a Decades of Design sale on 5 December, where you'll find fine and rare pieces such as a signed Emile Gallé 'Magnolia' three-branch chandelier from circa 1910 (£15,000-£25,000), a 1950s French oak desk by Maurice Flachet (£1,500-2,500) and, from the 1960s, a set of four 'Les Arcs' chairs by Charlotte Perriand (£800-1,200).

Musical instrument enthusiasts, meanwhile, should head to Bath-based Gardiner Houlgate on 14 September for its Guitars auction, where interesting lots include a late 1950s Wande electric guitar (£5,000-10,000), which is said to be the first guitar Jimi Hendrix played on UK soil, and is sold with a handwritten letter of provenance from Zoot Money. Also up for grabs is a decorative guitar from celebrated Parisian luthier Jean-Baptiste Voboam (£25,000-30,000) dating back to 1684.

But delving even deeper into the past is Salisbury saleroom Woolley & Wallis, which has a Roman marble sarcophagus from the second-third century (£10,000-15,000) in its sale of Tribal Art & Antiquities on 20 September. Other interesting pieces include a striking Melanesian necklace made from split sperm whale teeth (£6,500-7,500) and a Nigerian Benin leopard in bronze (£7,500-8,500), which was exhibited at the acclaimed 2007 Breaking the Chains exhibition at the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum, Bristol.