Smiths Antique and Collectors Auction on March 27-28 displayed a good measure of sexual equality when four lots of Barbie and other dolls proved to be one of the leading stars of the sale and left poor old Action Man in the shade! As a general rule Action Man makes more money than Barbie, but on this occasion a group of five Barbie dolls made £580 whilst two Sasha dolls made £540. Two further lots including Sindy, Tiny Tears and a Pippa doll took the overall girl’s doll total to over £1,600 whilst none of the four Action Man lots managed to top the £100 mark.

Despite all this exciting activity in the Toy Section the real highlights of the sale were found mainly amongst the Jewellery, Silver and Watches. Top price of the day was taken by an 18ct gold half hunter pocket watch which made £2,100 whilst an unusual Vacheron & Constantin pocket watch, which had been converted to a wrist watch, made £1,700.

An unusual Bell and Ross vintage square face gentleman’s watch made £1,350 whilst a classic vintage Jaegar LeCoultre watch reached £600. In the jewellery section the current high gold price ensured a number of excellent results such as a 9ct gold charm bracelet which made £1,750 whilst two pairs of antique 15ct gold cufflinks made £680.

A full selection of rings in the sale sold consistently overestimate, with a three stone diamond ring making £890 and an antique diamond and sapphire ring making £580.

Antique jewellery continued its current bullish trend with a Victorian carved cornelian heart form pendant making £230, a lovely carved antique coral cameo brooch selling for £220 and a pretty Edwardian aquamarine and pearl pendant reaching £290 – again all these results were more than comfortably overestimate.

Antique paste jewellery is currently very popular and can sometimes create a few surprises such as a pretty Victorian silver and paste bow form brooch which made £160 against a £20/£30 estimate, despite having damage. Silver and enamel jewellery also experienced significant interest, with an Art Deco enamel pendant in the form of a scarab by Charles Horner making £130 (despite irreparable damage) and a selection of pretty floral brooches all making at least twice their estimate.

The silver section is also currently experiencing strong popularity with a matched silver cutlery set making £1,000 and a range of small silver collectables all performing strongly overestimate. Elsewhere in the sale a fine pair of early 20th century ormolu and bronze wall lights in the form of winged women sold for £420 against a £200/£400 estimate and rare model 222K Singer Sewing Machine made £480.

The furniture section proved to be more selective, however a pair of Globe Wernicke lead glazed bookcases made a very satisfactory £790.

Smiths are now inviting good quality entries for their May antiques sale by appointment. They are also taking entries of coins and notes for their specialist coin sale in June. Please telephone 01531 821776 or visit www.smithsnewentauctions.co.uk