Hess Fine Art

01/13/2025

Always buying expesnive vintage fine and decorative art and jewelry! look us up on the net!

Best prices in Tampa Bay for your luxury watches, gold, and diamonds. Get an offer online or visit us

01/13/2025

Always buying entire esrtates and expensive fine and decorative art. We have 3 former Sothebys . com members on staff. Experts with a smile and helpful nature!

11/05/2024

A friendly reminder….

10/27/2024

WHAT’S IT WORTH?
By Jeff Hess Owner and Appraiser
The Price of Silver Takes Flight!

The price of silver is at unprecedented levels, a troubling trend that causes more and more finely designed silver pieces to be melted. Silver, even collectible stuff is now increasingly seen as a commodity to be sold for quick cash. But many pieces STILL should not be scrapped; we will pay more than silver for intricately designed pieces and items from famous makers as they still hold value far beyond their silver content.

Yes, common flatware patterns only bring $1,000 to $2,000 per set now, but rarer patterns can bring 10 times that.

The economic pressures driving this trend are understandable. However, many items still bring a premium. Let us sort this out for you. Once these pieces are melted, their history and craftsmanship are gone forever.

t’s crucial for collectors and sellers to recognize that well-made silver, especially by noted makers or with exquisite designs, often commands a premium. These pieces deserve to be preserved, not melted down and we buy them. As the gap between silver’s intrinsic value and its artistic worth narrows, it becomes more important than ever to find dealers who understand the difference to save finely designed silver from the refinery for us to find them a good home

This week, we saved from the fire an incredible art deco silver set. The small dents and minor damages of the teak or pernambuco wood handles are problems, but the art deco design is incredible. Made by an unknown maker in Colombia, it screamed “Save me.”

If you have common silver lying around, NOW is the time to sell. Silver is at $33 per ounce and we can separate the meltable from the savable! And we often pay way more than silver value.

Go to our website for complete details:
https://www.hessfineart.com/

10/26/2024

"With over 40 years of experience, we are your trusted partners in unlocking the value of your treasured items! 💎✨ Whether it's exquisite jewelry, antique watches, or unique collectibles, we pay top dollar for high-end luxury. Experience the difference that decades of expertise can make—let us help you turn your treasures into cash today!

https://www.hessfineart.com/

"

10/25/2024

"Unlock the value of your treasures with us! 💎✨ From exquisite jewelry and antique watches to unique collectibles and luxury home furnishings, we pay top dollar for your high-end items. Discover the true worth of what you own and let us help you turn your treasures into cash!
⌚️💍💰

https://www.hessfineart.com/sell-your-items/

10/21/2024

**Community Support Announcement** 🌊

In the wake of the recent hurricanes, all of us have faced incredible challenges. Many have lost their homes, and local businesses are struggling to recover. As part of this community for over 40 years, we want to give back.

To support our neighbors, we are actively helping people whose watches were soaked, damaged or otherwise destroyed during the last two hurricanes. We are offering drying-out services for free, and all watchmaking, strap and band services, for the next 30 days, are half off. NO CHARGE for first responders. And we will give more than ample trade-ins for your damaged watches.

Every watch tells a story, and we want to help keep those stories alive. Together, we can rebuild and rise stronger. Thank you for your continued support; we’re here for you. 💙

10/20/2024

GORGEOUS NATURAL PEARLS

N A T U RAL P E A R L S + T I F F A N Y = B I G V A L U E

WHAT’S IT WORTH?

It is thought in most communities around the globe that buyers of estate jewelry, watches and art double or triple their money. This fallacy for the most part is untrue.

Doubling your money sometimes occurs. Sometimes with older, less-expensive watches as well. The public doesn’t take into account the costs of a jeweler’s time buffing and polishing, or a watchmaker’s time bringing a watch to acceptable standards.

Our profit margin on luxury goods is typically only 5% to 20% (few believe it, but it’s true).

Sometimes, something just falls in our lap. A Connecticut jeweler posted on social media a spectacular Christian cross. It was rather plain looking, but was signed Tiffany and other dealers clamored to be the winning bidder. Many bidders just bid gold value — a couple of hundred dollars. The last two bidders were us and a New York estate buyer. We beat the New Yorker by 10%, winning it for $2,200.

The appeal? A) It had original Tiffany papers, almost unheard of for a pendant made in 1879. It was bought by a New York doctor, who managed a large psychiatric hospital. The purchase was likely for his ailing wife, who passed away just a few months later. B) We also knew, because of the manufacturing date, the 5.5 mm pearls were natural, since cultured pearls were not perfected until the early 1900s by the Mikimoto family. Natural, matched 5.5 mm pearls like this are VERY rare and we had customers standing by for them. Did we double our money? Yes. (And then some.) It does occasionally happen.

If you have pre-1900 pearls with platinum or old-cut diamond clasps, they may be natural! Katrina is a graduate gemologist, and has her pearl diploma. And they could be worth thousands of dollars.

10/13/2024

This pocketwatch checks all those boxes. Precious metal (18k gold) is the least of it. The maker, Franciszek Czapek (the first partner of Mr. Patek before he partnered with Philippe) was a genius watchmaker. The case maker, Etienne Piguet, made a similar watch (without enameling) the same year as this one — 1847.

The movement is a quarter-hour repeater, very complicated for its day, noting the time, in the dark, with a series of gongs/bells. Add the science, art and craftsmanship (and the close relation to Patek), and the historical aspect (a treaty of Poles and Europeans), and you have a masterpiece worthy of any museum.

We paid a Wisconsin jeweler $12,000, promising more if it did well at auction. Like the Polish nobleman who special ordered it 150 years ago, we got to hold this beauty in our hands for a few weeks.

It did well at auction, fetching $28,000 (we sent the jeweler a nice additional check). The watch sold to Wojciech Smiechowski, a Polish billionaire. He picked it up personally in our office when his racing team raced at the Rolex Daytona 24-hour race. It was a thrill to meet him and to know the watch went back home to Poland. The firm still makes complicated watches of high caliber. (As shown.)

We are Tampa Bay’s luxury watch headquarters and we love vintage! Go ahead, Google us! We don’t just buy museum pieces. Always buying rare and valuable items. Cash or auction. We make house calls statewide. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

St. Petersburg ~ 1131 4th St. N ~ 727-896-6656 |

Tampa ~ Hyde Park Village ~ 1607 W. Swann ~ 813-875-3935 |

OldNortheastJewelers.com

09/23/2024

WHAT’S IT WORTH
JEFF HESS
Owner & Appraiser

People often ask me what I collect. The answer? Everything. Not really, but my collecting habit is what originally got me into this. Today, my collection consists of things that we overpaid on and things that may have a bit of damage. One notable Tiffany glass vase in our house is often commented on, but secretly, it is turned to one side to hide a hairline crack that makes it unsellable.

I still collect a few things, one of which we will discuss: Hamilton watches. Before becoming a dealer, I worked in finance and music. But I collected Hamilton watches and researched them. My first research was published in “American Wristwatches: Five Decades of Style and Design” (Schiffer Publishing) in 1988. Pick up this book online if you get the chance.

We buy and sell Hamilton watches all the time, but I collect certain models and styles. These are the “sleepers” that are worth much more than Hamilton’s everyday watches.

Hamilton started in 1892, and produced its first wristwatch in 1917, in response to the need for an alternative to pocket watches for soldiers during World War I. Since they concentrated on high- quality watches, they did not produce nearly as many as rivals Elgin and Waltham.

Check your drawers; even nonworking Hamiltons have “some value,” primarily men’s. Look for any vintage Hamilton 18 karat gold or platinum, and any oddly shaped cases. Here are some examples of common versions we buy, and more rare versions.

More about the fascinating development of Hamilton Watches and research by Jeffrey Hess published in "Antiques and the Arts Weekly" https://www.antiquesandthearts.com/hamilton-watches-design-renderings-prove-electric-at-hess/

09/04/2024

🌟 We are truly humbled. A heartfelt thank you to our incredible friends and clients—your unwavering support and votes mean everything to us. It’s your passion for our journey that inspires us every day. Together, we’ve created something special, and we can’t wait to continue this adventure with you. With deepest gratitude, thank you for believing in us! ❤️🙏

09/01/2024

🌟 We are truly humbled. A heartfelt thank you to our incredible friends and clients—your unwavering support and votes mean everything to us. It’s your passion for our journey that inspires us every day. Together, we’ve created something special, and we can’t wait to continue this adventure with you. With deepest gratitude, thank you for believing in us! ❤️🙏