Watches, wine and fine jewellery for your last-minute Christmas shopping list

There is still time to pick up a few last-minute Christmas gifts, with a number of sales set to take place over the coming days.

Ending this Monday, December 12th, is Whyte’s Christmas Online Art auction, which is a seasonal sale of affordable art and books. Reasonable offerings include The Beckett Country: Samuel Beckett’s Ireland by Eoin O’Brien (€30-€50), Collecting Irish Silver 1637-1900 by Douglas Bennett (€60-€80), and two woodcuts by Harry Kernoff (€100-€150 each). Top of the bill are art works by Bob Dylan (ranging from €1,200-€12,000). whytes.ie

John Weldon will conduct his last sale of the year this Tuesday, December 13th, in a live online auction. Highlights include a diamond-set Patek Philippe Twenty-4 stainless steel watch, which is boxed and accompanied by a valuation from Weirs stating it was valued at €11,980 (it is now estimated at €4,000-€5,000). In terms of diamonds, the sale lists a 2.36ct diamond ring. “It’s a beautiful diamond which was cut around 1880 or 1890, and I have estimated that the colour of the diamond is I or J, while the clarity is SI, and, while it has had many owners, it continues to really sparkle,” says Weldon of the ring, which is expected to fetch €10,000-€15,000.

Also listed are two unusual cut diamond rings: an oval solitaire weighing one carat, estimated at €3,000-€4,000, and a lovely emerald-cut solitaire on diamond shoulders. Listed at €2,500-€4,500, it weighs 1.32ct, while diamonds on the shoulders weigh 0.62ct.

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Weldon has some line/tennis bracelets and gold necklaces too, the highlight of which is a tennis bracelet with seven carats of diamonds (€5,300-€6,300). jwa.ie

Adam’s of St Stephen’s Green will finish the year with two online-only auctions.

First up, ending on Sunday December 18th, is its Fine Wine and Spirits sale, which has everything from a Methuselah bottle of Cristal champagne to some very rare Midleton Whiskey from 1969. In the wine section, the catalogue has some fine offerings for Christmas Day including Lynch-Bages, as well as a number of bottles of Mouton Rothschild, and white wines of note including a 2008 Coche-Dury Meursault, which is one of the most sought-after producers of French white wines from Burgundy.

There’s lots in the way of fine and vintage ports, from Taylor’s and Dows to Fonseca, and a fine selection of rare whiskeys including a Highland single malt, The Glendronach, one of the oldest licensed distilleries in Scotland, which has aged for 31 years. Another option is a Master Distiller’s Private Collection Midleton 1973. Both of these would make wonderful gifts.

The following day, Monday December 19th, the house will hold its last sale of the year, Christmas at Home, which has lots of options for gifts and table accessories, along with a selection of furniture and art. Highlights from the jewellery section include a Pasha razor and barber brush by Cartier (€1,400-€1,600), and if you’re in the market for a two-seater leather sofa and club chair, there are particularly nice ones on the catalogue cover. adams.ie