Around the Block

"In today's tough economy, people have become increasingly interested in learning what their jewelry is worth," said Alexander Eblen. I'm delighted to meet residents of Naples and to provide free appraisals and advice on selling jewelry during a time when many people are looking to raise capital."

Eblen's knowledge of the jewelry and timepieces market comes from his extensive experience in grading and appraising fine jewelry. He holds a Graduate Gemologist degree from the Gemological Institute of America in Carlsbad, California and specializes in diamonds and colored gemstones.

Eblen and Leslie Hindman's Fine Jewelry and Timepieces department have a strong reputation for continually achieving exceptional prices at auction and for capturing the interest of the global jewelry market. Leslie Hindman auctions feature antique, period, modern and contemporary jewelry and timepieces from Bulgari, Buccellati, Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Patek Philippe, Rolex and other designers. Eblen's department offers unique, fresh property from private collections and estates.

In addition to the jewelry department, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers is a full service auction house based in Chicago. The auction house is an industry leader with over thirty years of experience and is internationally known as a key player in the global auction market. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers' team of professionals delivers up to forty sales a year specializing in Fine Furniture and Decorative Arts; Fine Art; Fine Books and Manuscripts; Fine Jewelry and Timepieces; and Vintage Couture and Accessories. In January 2010, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers announced the opening of a satellite office in Naples, Florida.

"Many of our clients live in Florida during the winter," said Leslie Hindman, President and CEO of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. "Alexander Eblen is extremely knowledgeable and his visit will provide him the opportunity to better serve our clients currently residing in Naples, while also reaching out to the Naples community as a whole." 

For more information about attending Eblen's presentation or setting up a complimentary consultation please contact Kristy Vaughn or Maura Ross at 239.643.4448.

About Leslie Hindman Auctioneers
For more than two decades, Leslie Hindman Auctioneers has been an industry leader combining a local recognition as the Midwest's leading fine art auctioneers with a global reach of buyers. Founded in 1982, sold to Sotheby's in 1997 and reopened in 2003, Leslie Hindman has remained a constant force behind high profile auctions of everything from contemporary paintings and fine jewelry to French furniture and rare books and manuscripts and always maintains a practice of achieving the highest prices while maintaining the highest levels of integrity and customer service.

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CS Interiors magazine profiles Leslie Hindman and the success of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers and the auction industry and highlights from several past auctions

From their Summer 2009 issue                               

"More than The King's voice lives on. Elvis Presley's hair is still here. Really."

A Colt Army Special revolver used by East Chicago, Ind., police Capt. Timothy A. O'Neil to fatally shoot John Dillinger could be yours for what auctioneers say may be much more than their conservative $8,000 to $12,000 estimate.

The .38-caliber, 5-inch-barrel gun and its holster will be auctioned at noon July 28 -- six days after the 75th anniversary of Dillinger's fatal shooting -- at Chicago's Leslie Hindman Auctioneers, 1338 W. Lake. The new Dillinger movie, "Public Enemies," premieres in Chicago tonight and opens July 1.

An image of the gun, owned by O'Neil's family, will be projected on a screen at auction because Chicago bans handguns and automatic weapons within city limits. Anyone who wants to view the gun must go to Shore Galleries at 2218 W. Devon in Lincolnwood, where it is stored. Potential bidders must comply with state and federal gun laws.

O'Neil, dubbed "Dillinger's nemesis," is credited with either firing the fatal shot or firing one of five shots that killed Dillinger after the bandit left the Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934, according to newspaper reports of the day.

O'Neil and fellow East Chicago police Sgt. Martin Zarkovich provided the tip that the "lady in red" would finger Dillinger, and they, along with three FBI agents, fired shots at Dillinger after he emerged from the theater. O'Neil and Zarkovich split a $5,000 federal reward for "information that led to the slaying of Dillinger." They received letters of commendation from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

Zarkovich's gun sold at auction for $17,550 on Nov. 20, 2007.

Local newspapers reported in September 1945, when the movie "Dillinger" opened in theaters, that O'Neil, Zarkovich and the rest of the East Chicago police department were haunted by the slaying of three of their fellow officers by members of Dillinger's gang. The newspapers noted other northwest Indiana connections: that Dillinger plotted in the Indiana Harbor section of East Chicago the escape of his gang from the state prison at Michigan City, and Dillinger made his famed wooden-gun escape from the county jail in Crown Point.

O'Neil later became deputy state fire marshal in Indiana and served as vice president of the Grand Lodge Fraternal Order of Police in East Chicago.

More information is available from Mary Williams, head of books and manuscripts, at , (312) 334-4326.

Leslie Hindman, of the namesake Chicago auction house and a North Shore regular, was the guest speaker for the noon luncheon and talk.

"A lot has changed since I opened my business," Hindman told the audience.

The biggest change? The Internet.

"That has completely revolutionized our industry," she said.

Even small local auctions have gone from selling to people in the auction room to a global audience, thanks to real-time linkups.

"Eighty percent of what we sell today sells to people outside Illinois," Hindman said. At a recent auction of an art piece by an Eastern European painter, the group of live bidders included two from the Czech Republic and one from Poland.

And that makes for good business for Hindman and the owner who hopes to bring in the highest bid possible. With the Internet, buyers worldwide can view catalogs of upcoming items to be auctioned at auction houses all over the world.

"I'm looking for a chaise lounge right now," Hindman said. "I can look online and find every single chaise available in the world."

Web sites she recommends are artnet.com, askart.com, artprice.com and artfact.com.

While 75 percent of what Hindman auctions comes from estates, she said the auction industry long has been driven by the three Ds: Death, divorce and debt. In the current economy, the last D is motivating sellers.

"We're seeing a lot of people selling because they took a hit in the stock market and need extra cash," she said. Parting with works of art is one way to bolster their income.

Her company also handles many sales for institutions, such as college's that have unneeded and unwanted art collections, and museums that typically have a lot of pieces they cannot display and that no longer fit in with their strategic direction.

"We can sell their unwanted pieces so that they can buy pieces they want," she said.

Hindman explained the 10 criteria for determining the value of an object: Authenticity, provenance, rarity, condition, historical significance, fashion, medium, subject matter, size and quality.

"You or a lot of people you know probably own things that are more valuable than you think," she said. "Always check what you have."

Items selling for substantially more than anyone anticipated "happens a lot more than you think," she said.

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers has emerged as an industry leader in vintage couture.

Old Chanel dresses and the like "are the big thing with young people," she said. "We're the biggest couture dealer in the world."

When buying jewelry, art or other collectibles at auction or elsewhere, Hindman offered the following advice: "Buy the best you can afford; buy quality, not quantity; seek expert advice; and never buy on impulse," she said.

Hindman welcomed the women to contact her office any time with questions.

By LINDA BLASER

Our Director of Vintage Couture and Accessories, Abigail Rutherford, is featured in the April 2nd edition of Time Out Chicago’s "Inside Job" column in which she explains the consignment process and how her position has lead her to see fashion as "an art form and less of a commodity."  Artcle recopied below.

Time is on her side A testament to the power of having been in the “right place at the right time,” Abigail Rutherford landed the job as director of vintage couture and accessories at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in 2006 with nearly no formal education in fashion. The 27-year-old Kenilworth native studied art history as an undergrad at Lafayette College and worked as a wine purveyor after graduating while taking classes in fashion construction at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Chicago. While attending a preview event at Leslie Hindman, she “just happened to talk to [Leslie] about [her] knowledge of fashion,” says Rutherford. As luck would have it, the director of the fashion department was moving on at that time, and Rutherford was ripe for the job.

The way it works Over the course of a three-month period, sellers from around the world approach Rutherford with garments and accessories, which she either accepts on a consignment basis (if the seller agrees with the projected profit) or rejects. After garnering an average of 500 lots—either single items or a collection, such as 20 clip-on earrings sold as a set—she photographs the items, produces a catalog, hosts a preview for potential buyers and, finally, produces a live auction. Shoppers from around the globe, including vintage-couture shop owners and budding enthusiasts with just a few hundred bucks to spend, show up in person, call in or visit via the Internet to place bids. Prices range from $100 for a snakeskin patchwork clutch from the 1980s to $20,000 to $30,000 for an Hermès crocodile-skin Birkin bag.

Learning curve To identify and authenticate items, Rutherford turns to the Internet and books to supplement her hands-on daily experience. “You start to train your eye to look for certain things, like types of zippers,” she says. Still stuck? Experts schooled in particular designers such as Chanel help her nail down the history. “Everyone is willing to help and thinks this is such an important art form that’s been brushed off along the way. It’s really gaining momentum right now,” she says. “[For instance,] museums are finding that any fashion exhibitions are bringing new life.”

Selling points “So much of my industry is driven by what’s current, so I really have to keep on top of what’s on the runway,” she says. “Whereas in early 2007, it was mostly ’60s, now it’s comprised mostly of ’80s.” And not just any designer label will do. “We won’t even take St. John or Escada. We want the cream-of-the-crop inspired fashion garments. For instance, [with] Yves Saint Laurent, we want ’60s and ’70s, or his small stint with Dior, whereas his ’80s and ’90s just doesn’t sell that well. We generally want the top ten designers that are synonymous with that decade and any sort of avant-garde fashion at that time.”

Eye on design “I kind of stopped shopping at, for lack of better words, janky stores,” she says. “You really understand why you’re paying such a [high] price for something. I have a better grasp of the craftsmanship that goes into everything. I’m seeing it much more as an art form and less of a commodity.” In addition to shying away from inferior fabrics and shoddy construction, she bristles at knockoffs. “[Working here] really opens up your eyes to who is inspired. It always comes from the avant-garde. People like Alexander McQueen and Martin Margiela, you know you’ll be seeing them in 20 years, and their stuff will have withstood the test of time.”

To wear or not to wear Buyers fall into one of two camps: museum and institution types who essentially leave their collections in glass cases, and those who shop for items to wear. “They butt heads, obviously, because they think two opposite schools of thought,” she says. As for her personal collection, she understands both sides, leaving the few collectibles she purchases for herself—mod pieces by Courrèges and Pierre Cardin—at home to appreciate in value, and actually wearing less valuable items like her gold-leopard Judith Leiber belt because “it’s simply ghetto-fabulous.”

By Jessica Herman (TimeOut Chicago)
Photograph by Nicole Radja
Source: http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/home-living/73079/leslie-hindman-auctioneers-vintage-couture-and-accessories-specialist

NEW YORK—Amid the economic crisis, Christie’s and Sotheby’s, the largest auction houses in the world, have recently announced layoffs and salary reductions, and have all but eliminated guarantees and loans extended to consignors and buyers. Meanwhile, several smaller, regional auction houses have been hit less hard by the market downturn, and have been finding ways to attract new buyers and consignors while retaining their current clients.

The Burchard Galleries auction house in St. Petersburg, Florida, which handles estate sales including lower-priced antiques and fine and deco-rative art, attempts to keep the proportion of lots with reserves to about 5 percent in any given sale as a way of encouraging buyers. “If people know an item is going to be sold [without reserve], they may be more enthusiastic in their bidding,” Todd Burchard, the house’s director of fine arts, said.

People are still buying, the houses say, but they may be unsure about how much to spend. According to president Nicholas Lowry, Swann Galleries, New York, has lowered estimates and reserves in its more recent sales, which sometimes leads to tension with prospective consignors. “We’re being much pickier with consignments and have to say no to some consignors. I don’t want anyone to lose money, but I want things I can sell,” he said.

New York auction house Doyle has sought to broaden the services it offers to consignors, and now offers the option of purchasing objects outright from estates rather than taking them on consignment. “We do this so that people don’t have to wait for months for an auction to get their money,” said Doyle spokesperson Louis Webre.

Leslie Hindman, an auctioneer in Chicago, said she has also been making contact with people who represent estates, letting them know that the house is very interested in items that are valued under $20,000. “The big auction houses are focusing on the high end,” she said. “It doesn’t make sense to ship something to New York that’s going to sell for a few thousand dollars.” Hindman is also opening a consignment gallery for furniture and decorative arts in the auction house’s new, larger space, as well as increasing its private treaty and Web sales.

Massachusetts auction house Skinner Inc. recently moved its main operations from the town of Bolton to a larger facility in Marlborough. Stephen Fletcher, executive vice president and one of three co-owners, said that because of the move, Skinner expects to increase its number of local buyers and has adjusted its marketing and advertising to achieve that goal.

In St. Louis, Ivey-Selkirk auction house has beefed up its local radio and television advertising, according to Mark Howald, the company’s executive vice president. Ivey-Selkirk has also stepped up postsale activity, which he said has cut its final buyin rate in half. “As soon as the auction is over, we get on the phone and on the computer to people who have shown interest,” he said. “We’ll tell them the reserve price and give them a period of time in which they can buy at the reserve.”

Part of auction houses’ process for repositioning themselves in a down market is focusing on the categories that have generated the best sales and on where their largest group of buyers lives. Ivey- Selkirk has been “doing more in the area of modern and contemporary art,” said Howald, which includes decorative art and design, while Leslie Hindman found that “the photography market looks pretty good, relative to other categories.”

Shannon’s auction house in Stamford, Connecticut has “been trying to target contemporary art, which we don’t usually sell. I’m trying to hybridize things,” auction house president Gene Shannon told ARTnewsletter.

All of the smaller auction houses surveyed reported a greater use of the World Wide Web, partly as a channel for taking bids—Litchfield County Auctions in Connecticut, for example, conducts all of its major auctions through iGavel.com—as well as a means of sending out downloadable flyers and brochures by e-mail to reduce their printing and mailing costs. —Daniel Grant

ARTnewsletter, February 17, 2009

Leslie Hindman Auctioneers is pleased to announce the launch of our live bidding platform this month, starting with our Sunday, January 18, 2009 Marketplace auction.

As you now know, eBay discountinued its live auction platform at the end of 2008. In its absence, we will be providing a full live bidding experience on our website.

Everything from bidding to browsing our online catalogues, auction calendar and auction updates will now be only a click away.

Learn more about LHLive.

The auction sold 69% by lot and 82% by value, resulting in a total haul of $29 million. The highlight of the auction, two Ponahalo Diamonds, sold for $4.1 million and $2.2 million each.

“In a volatile market when the Dow lost 700 points in a day, nearly $30 million of jewelry and precious stones changed hands at Christie’s in less than five hours, thus demonstrating the relative stability of the jewelry market and the long dependability of gems as a store of portable value,” Rahul Kadakia, Christie’s head of jewelry, said in a statement.

And this isn’t the only time auction houses have shown how immune they can be to tough economic conditions.

Mere days after Lehman Brothers’ collapse, a yellow diamond ring went for $144,000, four times the expected price, during a Sept. 22 sale at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago. Three days later, a sapphire and diamond Van Cleef and Arpel’s ring sold for $656,500 at Sotheby’s, more than double its pre-sale estimate.

“Whenever things get rocky elsewhere, like the stock market, we always find jewelry and diamonds do very well,” says Joanna Hardy, head of jewelry at Sotheby’s London. “These investment pieces are something you can put in your pocket, and are more reassuring than assets sitting in stocks.”

As luxury consumers lose their liquidity, they tend to start considering other forms of investments that can hold their value in bad times--and skyrocket in price when times are good. Contemporary art is a prime example.

“What other form of art can you get the crème de la crème for only 10,000 pounds [$17,279]?” says Kerry Taylor, owner of Kerry Taylor Auctions in London.
There are closer-to-earth bargains, too. For 100 pounds ($172.80) a bidder can snap up an original 1950s ball gown. Those looking for investment pieces can find a couture Chanel suit or Yves Saint Laurent gown for a fraction of the cost at retail--and perhaps turn around and sell the items later.

“It’s a great value for the money,” Taylor says. “These vintage pieces are well made, with fantastic fabrics, and a majority of the time are better quality than any item you will find today.”

And the prices are on a steady rise, Hardy says, since consumers are educated as to what items are of higher quality. “They have become more appreciative and discerning,” she says, and that’s what pushes up prices over time.

What also makes auctions of interest during difficult times is the sheer flood of items that go on the block. The economic downturn has been a driving force behind new consignors showing up at auction houses. Hardy says Sotheby’s Dec. 9 jewelry auction has 430 lots, while its last major auction on Sept. 25 had just 130 lots.

“Especially when it comes to jewelry, many people have items sitting in their safety deposit boxes that they don’t need and haven’t worn for years,” says Leslie Hindman, owner of Leslie Hindman Auctioneers. “They are looking in their closets and seeing what they can sell to make some quick money.”

What are you buying or selling on the auction market? Weigh in. Share your experiences in the Reader Comments section below.

In some cases, the pre-auction hype far exceeds expectations. The highly anticipated Hip Hop Crown Jewels auction at Phillips de Pury & Company in New York has been pushed back to March 5, 2009, from Oct. 1, to “accommodate the increased demand from consignors and buyers who wish to participate in the sale,” according to a statement by the auction house.

But this doesn’t mean auction houses and their clients aren’t skittish going forward--the rug could be pulled out from under them with plenty of consignors but no buyers. Most houses are taking a wait-and-see approach since they’ve seen troubles in other corners of the world.

After Sotheby’s Hong Kong auction on Oct. 7, where big stone after big stone went unsold and the total missed pre-auction estimates, the house’s stock price dropped 5.8%.

“For auction houses, you are only as good as your last sale,” Hardy says.