THREE top antique specialists have been recruited to join the team at a fast-growing North Yorkshire auction house, which has already positioned itself to offer ‘remote’ sales and services in the months ahead.

After just one year of trading, Elstob & Elstob relocated to new premises in January 2020 to meet a rising demand for its services and now the Ripon-based firm has brought in three additional antique experts to help with its valuations and sales, all of which can be conducted online.

The experts – whose interests include jewellery, textiles, and classic cars – will also enable the auction house to run more specialist events alongside its regular fine art and antique sales.

Inez Tobin is a highly qualified jewellery consultant whose experience and expertise lends additional weight to the already strong jewellery team at Elstob & Elstob.

The auction house has seen some outstanding sales in this area including a 19th century pink topaz necklace that sold for £9,400 at the beginning of this month.

Inez, a Fellow of the Gemmological Association of Great Britain who has worked for various national and international auction houses, including Bonham’s and Christie’s, will help run specialist jewellery sales on May 28 and November 26, together with a ‘luxury’ sale scheduled for December.

“I am delighted to be joining the team at Elstob & Elstob. They are a growing presence in the North of England and have achieved some excellent results this past year. I look forward to building on this success,” said Inez.

Another of the new specialists is Jessica Aldred, an expert embroiderer with over 15 years’ experience of working with antique textiles.

Amongst her many claims to fame is that she has demonstrated embroidery to Her Majesty the Queen and was a member of the team who embroidered the wedding dress and veil for the Duchess of Cambridge. She has also worked in the costume department at the Royal Opera House and taught at the Royal School of Needlework and the V&A Museum.

The third specialist to join the team is Richard Heritage, a consultant in classic and specialist vehicles.

Throughout his 50-year career, he has worked for many prestigious dealerships in both the UK and USA, including Jaguar, Aston Martin, Citroen and British Leyland.

Richard also has considerable experience of inspecting and advising on classic cars, as well as utilising his mechanical and electrical engineering skills to provide classic car repairs and restoration. This includes assistance with sourcing and purchasing rare or hard-to-find parts.

Elstob & Elstob has 12 specialist departments and its ten-strong team of experts would be delighted to hear from members of the public who have items to sell or have valued.

Staff are able to offer online assessments, using images, and correspond with people by telephone and online. These are free and without obligation. Collections of items to be included in sales can also be arranged, depending on Government advice and restrictions at the time, together with safe drop-off facilities.

“We are very conscious that people need to avoid social interaction at the moment or are having to self isolate but we have already invested heavily in state-of-the-art technology that enables sales and valuations to be conducted remotely,” said David Elstob, who is co-director of the firm with his wife Beth.

“All sales can be viewed online and we use high quality images, videos and extensive condition reports to showcase individual lots to their full potential to a world-wide market. The auctions themselves can be viewed live online and bids can be made on the Internet or via the telephone. In many ways it is the perfect activity to do from the confines of your own home,” he added.

The auction house has also recently introduced live bidding through its own website, as a supplement to the generic service provided by national sites such as saleroom.com and liveauctioneers.com.

Elstob & Elstob’s next sale will take place on Saturday 18 April for which consignments are currently invited.

For further information about the sales and services provided by Elstob & Elstob, call 01765-699200, email info@elstobandelstob.co.uk or visit: www.elstobandelstob.co.uk