As the gold price continues to go nuts, this “gilty” pleasure has never looked so appealing. Of course, the interest in the metal is a global one, but for the couple of million humans that call the gold-pocked Witwatersrand ridge their home, the mineral has extra special heft.
Our entire, huge, complicated city exists because of it, and so a series of Joburg-based auctions that somehow pivot around the metal have particular appeal.
But City of Gold aside, anyone with even a tiny little gold engagement ring or brooch from granny is now looking at the thing differently. As I type this, for example, the retail price (that’s what you or I will pay) is around R1500 per gram for 9K gold and R3000 for 18K. A typical woman’s wedding band weighs roughly 4 grams – you do the maths and be shocked.
Joburg jeweller and owner of jewellery store Tinsel, Geraldine Fenn, says she wishes she’d bought gold six months ago for the business. Back then it would have cost around $2600 an ounce of pure gold; now it’s hovering around the $3400 mark. An ounce is just over 28 grams. A year ago, it would have cost you $2400. That’s a full US $1000 (or R18,000) more in 12 months.
Fenn reckons that despite astronomical prices, gold isn’t going to lose its lustre. “Customers will just bring in more old pieces to rework to save on costs, so we’ll do more refining than supplying new metal – which I guess is good from a sustainability point of view.”
Her point brings us back to the Joburg auction week that Strauss & Co is holding in the week of 27 May. They’ve got a raft of sales on – and there’s a touch of literal or painterly gold and its adjacent worlds in all of them.
Before we plunge into the actual metal on the sales – which speaks exactly to Fenn’s point about a focus on “old” gold pieces – there’s a particular golden woman in the auctions who deserves a special look.
The 1955 painting of Valerie Howe, a Cape Town grocer’s daughter, is one of the most iconic portraits of the 20th century. We know it from endless reproductions, but seeing the original painting in the flesh – as I did earlier in the week at the Strauss & Co viewing – is something else. The large painting captures the heady fusion of Eastern influence and Hollywood glamour that propelled Tretchikoff to global fame.
“It remains one of the most iconic and widely loved images produced by the artist following his move to South Africa in 1946,” says the company’s art department head, Dr Alastair Meredith. “Upon its reproduction as a print, Lady from the Orient achieved astonishing success, becoming the second-best-selling print in Britain in 1962. Tretchikoff’s vision has proven remarkably resilient and his works continue to command record prices at auction.”
The golden gal
Drum roll, because Strauss & Co is selling the original version of Vladimir Tretchikoff’s Lady from the Orient (the estimate is between R5m and R7m).
The work goes under the hammer at the group’s Joburg gallery on 27 May, and until then you can view it there (and you should, if you can). It’s also briefly taking a flit to RMB Latitudes Art Fair up the road from 23–25 May, so will be on display there too.
The gritty side of this world of glitter is, of course, mining – and there are also related pieces on the art leg of the auctions. These include Sam Nhlengethwa’s Miners and Miner’s Lamp (lot 259), and Durant Sihlali’s exceptional The Circular Shaft (lot 248). The latter is a watercolour from 1975 that is likely of the Durban Roodepoort Deep Mining Co., as a plaque on the piece indicates. In case you think this is a sale reserved for billionaires, by way of example, the Sihlali has a bargainous estimate of only R20,000–R30,000.

Run the jewels
The Grand Edition jewellery sale takes place on 26 May, and for it, the auction house’s Joburg jewellery specialist Kim Goeller and her team have curated an impressive selection of sparkly baubles – many of them set in rich, beautiful yellow gold.
Our highlights of these include the most exceptional flat gold bracelet (lot 122), a wow emerald and diamond cluster ring (lot 52) and wonderful mid-century yellow gold and turquoise earrings (lot 113). There’s also a quartz flower brooch (lot 8), which is set on an 18K yellow gold decorative base and features three round brilliant-cut diamonds.

And then there is the gold casket (lot 61). This Art Deco-style cracker is crafted in 22K yellow gold. Due to the nature of its construction (it has a wooden inlay), it is assumed to be made from a staggering 2325 grams of fine gold. Its estimate is between R5m and R6m.

There are many lots, in both the live evening jewellery sale and the online companion sale. And some have estimates as low as R3000–R7000 (that’s for a charming diamond and gold pendant). What this glut of lovely pieces speaks to, of course, is that people are selling their gold jewellery right now to benefit from the price high. Who can blame them? Even those hanging onto heirlooms may find themselves wondering whether sentiment or resale wins out.
And buying the goods seems a solid investment too. In a world of volatile currencies and crypto weirdness, as any sage aunty will tell you about gold: “You can just up-sticks and go anywhere in the world with all your money on your hands and neck.”
Top image: Vladimir Tretchikoff’s Lady of the Orient. Picture: Supplied.
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