What a fabulous start to the year as  we welcomed Nicola Whittaker from Fellows Auctioneers.  Fellows is a family run firm and Nicola is a sixth generation member of her family to join the business and she began working in the auction house aged 16 in her school holidays.  Fellows are based in Birmingham but have an office in Mayfair, London where Nicola now works. Specialising in jewellery and watches, she explained that unlike many other auction houses, they do not put a lower price limit on items they auction.  Passionate and informative she took us through a whistlestop tour of the history of jewellery, how changes in society emerged in changing aesthetics, and how things changed further as exploration, excavation  and gem cutting equipment developed. She was so generous with her time and her knowledge and  spent a further hour with us looking at the treasures members had brought in and giving us information on origin , history and potential value.    She also mentioned that that Fellows have open afternoons where anyone can go and peruse the items up for auction so we are thinking we may plan a trip there. If you are interested in coming along email us at debeauvoirwi@gmail.com