A RARE gold medal discovered by a jeweller is going under the hammer.

The 20ct gold Life Saving Medal made by Tiffany & Co was uncovered in a pile of old gold by a jeweller in Old Swan.

Peter Edwards, of WJ Edwards on Prescot Road, found the rare medal in a leather pouch amongst broken gold jewellery.

After much research, he discovered the medal had been awarded to Alfred N Beavan, the captain of the steamship ‘Birka’ which sailed from Liverpool in 1911.

The medal was presented after Beavan rescued three seamen from their sinking ship ‘Theresa’ which was found in heavy seas 120 miles off St Michael’s in the Azores.

The seamen from Spain had set sail to fish off the North West coast of Africa but they arrived as shipwrecked mariners in New York onboard the Birka on 2 August 1911.

Peter Edwards, who runs the family business with his sister Margot Walker, said:“We found it in an assortment of old gold that we were going to get rid off, we spotted the leather pouch and couldn’t believe it when we looked inside.

“The pouch has protected the coin so it was perfectly preserved, we spotted it was by Tiffany & Co the old jewellers and I started searching on the internet. I contacted the Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York but it’s now the Seaman’s Mission and it was through them that we learned the medal had quite a history to it. It dates back to August 1911 which was a year before the famous Titanic sunk in 1912.”

The medal, designed by CH Lovett, is up for auction at Birmingham’s Fellows & Sons and is expected to fetch between £2,000-3,000.

It will be sold alongside an account of the rescue in the New York Times.

Stephen Whittaker, managing partner, Fellows & Sons, said: “This medal is unique and carries an interesting history. Currently there is a tendency for jewellers to scrap gold but I am delighted they spotted the potential interest of this medal for collectors both in the UK and the USA.”

How the medal ended up back in a jewellers in Liverpool is a mystery but Mr Edwards thinks the medal was pledged at his family’s pawnbrokers.

His family business dates back three generations, but Mr Edwards said the medal was the greatest find he knew of.

He added: “We get all sorts handed in, bits of old gold among false legs, pocket watches and compasses. Liverpool’s strong maritime history means we get a lot of navigation aids but we’ve never had a medal like this.”

New York–An array of flawless colorless diamonds, artistic works by master jewelers such as Cartier, JAR and Louis Comfort Tiffany, and an offering of jewels from the collection of a late fashion model will be among the highlights of Sotheby’s New York sale of Magnificent Jewels.

The Dec. 9 auction is expected to bring in more than $20 million, Sotheby’s said in a media release, with pieces of exceptional provenance and craftsmanship defining the sale.

“From the perfection of flawless diamonds and the rarity of natural pearls to the originality of one-of-a-kind pieces, our sale this season presents a captivating array of jewels that can only be found at auction,” Lisa Hubbard, chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewelry Department, North and South American divisions, said in a media release.

Hubbard added that after the success of the auction house’s recent sales in Hong Kong and New York, it has been clear that buyers are actively seeking diamonds with an extra something special, whether that be the stone’s inherent charm, rare shape or perfect quality.

Among the important colorless diamonds set for auction is a magnificent and rare oval diamond weighing 30.48 carats, of D color, with flawless clarity and type IIa “Golconda-like” classification, estimated to sell for more than $3.3 million.

Additional unmounted specimens worthy of attention include a round diamond weighing in at 18.11 carats, of H color and graded triple-X with excellent cut, polish and symmetry, as well as a pear-shaped diamond cut for candlelight and weighing 13.85 carats, with D color and VS2 clarity. The stones are estimated to fetch between $750,000 to $1 million, and $400,000 to $500,000, respectively.

As for mounted stones, highlights include a square emerald-cut diamond of 9.69 carats set as a ring and estimated between $350,000 and $450,000. The stone has E color, VVS2 clarity, is potentially flawless and certified type IIa.

Works of art by 20th-century master jewelers that are slated for the auction include two seminal pieces from Cartier’s famed 1920s period, including an Egyptian-style jeweled scarab belt buckle ($250,000-$350,000) and an Egyptian-style lapis lazuli, turquoise, diamond, black onyx and enamel bracelet ($75,000-$100,000).

The pieces feature exceptional provenance: The belt buckle was purchased in 1926 by Mrs. Cole Porter, and the bracelet was made by special order for her in 1929. Prior to her death in 1954, Porter gave the jewels to her friend, Princess Natalie Paley, in whose family collection the jewels have remained to the present day.

A rare and important, fancy intense-yellow diamond and emerald ring from Tiffany and Co., designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany circa 1915-1920, will also be featured ($200,000-$300,000), as well as a colored-stone and diamond bracelet designed by Van Cleef and Arpels, dating to 1930 ($100,000-$150,000). The yellow diamond in the Tiffany ring weighs in at 11.05 carats and is decorated with calibre-cut emeralds, while the Van Cleef bracelet incorporates 11.25 carats of colorless European-cut diamonds accented with sapphires, rubies, emeralds and onyx.

Also highly anticipated are pieces from the collection of Lucia Moreira Salles, a former model from Brazil and a dedicated philanthropist. Salles began her career in Paris at the end of the 1950s, and became a muse for both Valentino and Coco Chanel.

Highlights from her collection include three gemstone rings accented with diamonds and mounted in platinum by Paris designer JAR: one featuring a 27-carat cabochon Colombian emerald ($400,000-$600,000); another featuring a sugarloaf cabochon Burmese ruby weighing approximately 16.3 carats ($150,000-$200,000); and the third, a diamond “String” ring set with a 16.04-carat oval diamond of F color, SI1 clarity and type IIa ($350,000-$450,000).

Salles’ collection also features a selection of pearls, including a natural-pearl and diamond necklace ($250,000-$350,000) and a natural-pearl and diamond ring ($30,000-$50,000).

“Lucia Moreira Salles’ very personal collection offers a window into the innate style and elegance for which she was revered,” Hubbard said in the release. “She did not collect to impress; these are pieces that she loved to wear and which were part of the remarkable style that enabled her to work for two of the most influential fashion designers of all time during a legendary era in Paris.”

Prior to the December pre-sale viewing, highlights from the Magnificent Jewels auction will be exhibited in Geneva, Hong Kong and Los Angeles.

Paris Hilton ability be the Hilton family’s a lot of belled partier but that doesn’t beggarly the blow of her flush ancestors don’t apperceive how to hit the town.

The socialite’s similarly-social little sister, Nicky Hilton, hosted a Halloween affair at Pure on Saturday.

The earlier Hilton sister didn’t acknowledgment to Las Vegas to accompany her affinity at Caesars Palace this weekend – she was, afterwards all, just in boondocks for her boyfriend’s altogether at the Hard Rock Auberge endure weekend.

Hilton active Rick and Kathy Hilton came to Las Vegas for their daughter’s party, though, as did a scattering of Nicky Hilton’s added ancestors members, including her aunt, Kyle Richards, and adolescent cousin, Farrah Aldjufrie, who was adulatory her 21st birthday.

Hilton dressed up as Audrey Hepburn’s appearance from “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” for the Halloween party, cutting a atramentous about-face dress accompanied by a Chanel bag and necklace, Ray Ban appearance sunglasses and Christian Louboutin pumps.

Her parents aswell got into the Halloween spirit: Kathy Hilton came dressed as a badge woman while her bedmate wore a Hugh Hefner-like bathrobe and slippers ensemble and roamed the VIP with a cigar in hand.

Meanwhile, Richards affected the role of Wonder Woman; Aldjufrie came dressed as a flapper; and Pure citizen DJ, DJ Hollywood, wore a Captain America costume.

The brood to the Hilton auberge affluence partied in appearance and didn’t let the absence of their a lot of acclaimed analogue stop them from accepting fun in the club’s VIP area.

The accumulation reportedly sipped Fiji baptize and Grey Goose vodka affair throughout the evening, and the club presented Aldjufrie with a altogether cake.

Also partying at Pure on Halloween was “Entourage” brilliant Rex Lee, who came dressed as Will Farrell’s macho Spartan cheerleader appearance from “Saturday Night Live.”

To added bless their 10th anniversary, SOPH. accompany up with addition outstanding partner; Tiffany & Co. to actualize a section of adornment that combines the two collaborators accomplished talents. Quality argent alloyed with avant-garde branding of that which is SOPH.If you’re apprehensive what it in fact is…”it’s a key holder. You alleviate the brawl on the end of the U shaped capital allotment and accelerate keys assimilate it……..it’s a allowance as allotment of the advancing 10 year Soph anniversary….”

New York–TAG Heuer and Tiffany and Co. top the watch and adornment categories, respectively, in a new abstraction that measures affluence brands on their agenda competence.

The “Digital IQ” baronial arrangement acclimated to admeasurement agenda adequacy was advised by the L2 Affluence Lab of the New York University (NYU) Stern School of Business. In accession to watches and jewelry, the abstraction covers brands in the afterward categories: automobiles, adorableness and skincare, acclaim cards, cruises and tours, electronics, fashion, architecture and home, hotels, and wines and champagnes.

A absolute of 109 brands were ranked and accustomed a “Digital IQ” based aloft their seek engine optimization; cast translation–the aesthetics of their agenda media, as able-bodied as their messaging and conveyance of their ancestry and accumulated citizenship; leveraging the medium–their use of technology, interactivity and capability of their user interface; and finally, their use of amusing media.

The goal, according to Affluence Lab architect Scott Galloway, a analytic accessory assistant at the Stern School of Business, is to “provide a able-bodied apparatus that diagnoses agenda strengths and weaknesses, allowance companies accomplish greater acknowledgment on incremental investment.”

The top eight brands ranked in the abstraction anniversary accustomed Agenda IQs aloft 140, casual them into the “Genius” class, acceptation that agenda adequacy is a aggressive advantage for the brands and that their sites are seek optimized, aesthetically engaging, anatomic and interactive. In addition, the brands are experimenting, innovating and agreeable users on amusing media platforms and adaptable devices.

TAG Heuer was the alone watch or adornment cast to rank in the Genius category, sliding in at the eighth atom with a annual of 141. The abstraction declared the Swiss watch cast by adage that “great seek enhancement and anxious user interface lift TAG Heuer over mega-brand Rolex.”

The brands that baffled TAG cover Apple, ranked at No. 1 with a annual of 170, followed by BMW, Audi, Sony, Porsche, Louis Vuitton and Ralph Lauren.

Tiffany and Co., the astral adornment aggregation at No. 13, accustomed a Agenda IQ of 129, agreement it in the “Gifted” class. The abstraction alleged out Tiffany’s “elegant e-commerce belvedere and visually aggressive artefact search” as allowance the cast attain the top baronial a part of adornment brands.

Companies in the Gifted chic accustomed array amid 110 and 140, with the appellation acceptation that the brands’ sites are crawlable, brand-enhancing and about e-commerce enabled, and that the brands are aswell experimenting with a array of Web applications.

Rolex fell into this category, baronial 13th, as did Swarovski at 21 and Cartier at 22.

Of the watch and adornment brands falling into the “Average” class, scoring amid 90 and 110 on the Agenda IQ meter, were Chopard, Hublot, Movado, Van Cleef and Arpels, Omega, Bulgari and Piaget.

Brands in this chic affection sites that are anatomic but predictable, with bare accession and Web efforts that are not a point of aggressive differentiation, the abstraction said.

Next up are brands in the “Challenged” class, acceptation that their Web sites are aesthetically adorable but generally ailing accommodate the acquirement and artefact experience, and affection bound assurance above the capital Web site.

IWC ranked at the top end of this class, in the 72nd spot, with Baccarat at the low end, baronial 94th. Watch and adornment brands baronial in amid included Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Vacheron Constantin, Harry Winston, David Yurman and De Beers.

Finally, brands baronial as “Feeble,” scoring beneath 70 on the Agenda IQ scale, included Buccellati, Franck Muller, Graff, Bulova and Faberge. According to the study, brands falling into this chic do not authenticate charge to the requisite assets the cast and befalling warrants.

Looking added carefully at the watch and adornment categories, the abstraction finds that abounding of the brands that characterization themselves as “exclusive affluence brands” accept Agenda IQs that are on boilerplate 17 credibility beneath “mass bazaar affluence brands.” Abounding of the college price-point brands–most accepted in the watch, adornment and appearance categories–have “visually beauteous sites but attempt to absorb seek engine enhancement or an automatic user interface,” the abstraction explains.

In the watch category, TAG was the alone cast to cover links to accustomed retailers on the Web. In addition, with the barring of TAG, Rolex, Hublot and Movado, the sites of added watch brands analyzed in the abstraction crave three to six clicks to cross from the artefact affectation page to retail area information.

The abstraction gives the watch chic props, though, in agreement of amusing media. Findings acknowledge that watch brands accept added attendance on amusing media platforms than a lot of affluence brands.

As for jewelry, the abstraction calls the chic out as accepting the greatest amount of players beneath the “Challenged” and “Feeble” classes, with anemic traffic, poor user interfaces and bound use of amusing media arch to low Agenda IQs.

None of the adornment brands analyzed in the adornment chic affection a YouTube channel, the abstraction found; David Yurman is the alone cast boasting a Twitter annual with a bashful amount of followers; and Cartier and Tiffany are the alone brands with a cogent amount of admirers on Facebook.

Where and when: Anna Miles Gallery, 4J, Canterbury Arcade, to October 31

I’m killing off Cook & Co,” says jeweller Octavia Cook. That’s not definite, appropriately the appellation of the show. Cook added the “& Co” tag at her aboriginal appearance at Anna Miles in 2005, allotment of the action of staking out area in the apple of art.

“It was built-in of a charge to accomplish added than just jewellery. It brings my ancestors into it. It started off as my adaptation of Tiffany & Co, a humble, basic version, but it has developed and broadcast with every show,” she says.

Two photographs fabricated to accompany specific works appearance Cook acrimonious up on the achievement aspect of cutting an clear section of jewellery and axis it into achievement art.

In one, she is built-in in a armchair in the bend of her parents’ Pakuranga active room, which has been aggrandized by items like aristocratic portraits added to things Cook grew up with.

A photo aural the photo shows the autogenous of a maharajah’s alcazar with an octagonal table with a mirror top, the archetypal for the table Cook’s pieces are displayed on.

“Mine is added a customised barbecue table,” she says, acrimonious up the affair of the adumbral accessory with aspirations to grandeur.

The added photo has Cook sitting in a attenuated book-lined aisle at her husband’s workplace. “I like the theatricality of it. It references portraits of genteel folk in their home library after getting my own home or a genteel library.”

While staged, the photos are beneath apish than agnate creations for a appearance two years ago. “There was added of a affectation in those [earlier] photos. Now Octavia Cook is added in band with Cook & Co.

“It acclimated to be I was added separated. I’m absolution the bouncer down a little bit.

“Just afore aperture I acquainted afraid about how accessible it was. I mean, that’s my parents’ active room. I grew up in that house. I’m an Eastie!”

The brooch she wears in the library includes a ample circuitous of the Taj Mahal with a bead chaplet adornment below. The adornment inserts Cook’s contour on to a Lady Di contour with the pie band collar and billowing hair.

The millefiori address acclimated to actualize the Taj Mahal out of debris of acrylic set in adhesive is aswell acclimated for a brace of earrings featuring “the affiliated home and garage”.

“I acquainted the charge to antithesis out the amplitude of the Taj Mahal with my parents’ house,” Cook says. “They are both memorials in some way.”

A plate-size brooch, the one she is cutting in the Pakuranga photo, is a array of white on white cameos of her adapt egos: as Captain Cook, a sharina, a tsarina, a maharaja.

A medium-sized adaptation is done atramentous on black, keepsake mori style. Then there’s the aeroembolism “micro-dynasty” version, a baby argent brooch in an copy of three. A jointed brooch is based on Mexican cardboard cut outs done for the day of the dead. The endure plan is a chaplet fabricated to attending like a alternation of affiliated cigarettes captivation up an ashtray, a smouldering commemorative souvenir.