Overview

• Seller Michael Stein invoked a €70,000 Sotheby’s Munich estimate for a gold pocket watch gifted by King Ludwig II but rejected dealer bids up to €40,000 after expert appraisal valued it at €30,000–€35,000.
• Host Horst Lichter defied standard protocol by giving the seller the dealers’ card, prompting trader bids that were still below the reserve price.
• Dealer Wolfgang Pauritsch paid €950 for a Gotthelf Schlotter wild-geese bronze and subsequently sold it to a collector who vowed not to resell.
• Susanne Steiger purchased a pearl-set mistletoe brooch for €900 with plans to convert it into a ring despite cautions about the pearls’ fragility.
• A sapphire-and-diamond brooch sold for €5,050 after experts substantially lowered its expected value and a separate jewellery trio went unsold due to a family-imposed sales prohibition.