Important Watches, Estate Jewelry & Art

About: We have been in the business of buying and selling fine art, artists estates, fine watches, decorative arts, estate jewelry and important collectibles for over 25 years. We conduct our weekly auctions on eBay where we have over 150,000 positive feedbacks with a 99.4% rating with a total volume of over 150 million dollars since 1997. We have sold more vintage watches on eBay than anyone in the world and have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, WORTH magazine, FORBES magazine, Entrepreneur Magazine, and many other publications. Our firm is headed by Mr. Jeffrey P Hess, a bestselling Rolex author and highly sought-after lecturer who opened his first fine arts gallery in the 1970s. Gallerist Richard Van is a former national appraisal television personality whose appraisal clients include the Federal Government, Ivy League institutions and major banks. Both Mr. Hess and Mr. Van are former SothebysDotCom Associates. We also have two GIA Graduate Gemologists on our staff including Hess Fine Auctions Chief of Operations Mrs. Katrina Hess. Our staff lecture audiences have included the American and International Society of Appraisers, JCK at the request of eBay.

TERMS OF SALE: ALL SALES ARE FINAL. All lots are sold AS IS, with all faults, imperfections, and errors of description. Hess Fine Auctions (hereafter HFA), their employees and/or agents are not responsible for errors of description, genuineness or authenticity, and fault or defect in any lot. No warranties or representations whatsoever are given by HFA, its employees and/or agents, to any buyer in respect to any lot, except as noted below. Legal Jurisdiction: Hess Fine Auctions is a division of Hess Fine Art, and all associated businesses are registered in Pinellas County, FL, USA. It is agreed that all parties will abide by the laws of the State of Florida in all matters relating to this agreement. And that in the case of any dispute, the legal jurisdiction of resolution shall be Pinellas County, Florida. The buyer acknowledges that any items not returned within 30 days of receipt of the refund will be deemed appropriated by the buyer and buyer also acknowledges their intent to deprive from seller, either temporarily or permanently, the right to the property or the benefit from the property
ALL PAYMENTS ARE DUE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING AUCTION, and all merchandise = be removed from the premises within 5 business days after billing after the auction by the buyer or the authorized shipper of their choice. Please note our payment options posted elsewhere.
Storage fees of $10 per day if not picked up within 30 days after receiving your invoice. Items paid will be considered abandoned after 91 and all funds received will not be refunded and considered payment for storage. All unpaid auction wins will be considered abandoned after 30 if no communication is made within receipt of the invoice. LIMITED WARRANTIES FOR FINE & DECORATIVE ARTS, JEWELRY & ESTATE. There is a 3.5% processing fee for electronic payments, I.E.; credit cards & PayPal.

REGISTRATION: Bidders must be a registered Hess Fine Auctions client and be in good standing. To participate in our live auction event, you must become an Approved Bidder. To establish an account with our firm, please register on the website or call to set up bidding via phone.

WE ACCEPT PHONE BIDS. E-mail or call our office in advance at 727.896.0622. Hess Fine Auctions is the auction division of Hess Fine Art, Inc, and a subsidiary of Old Northeast Jewelers.

PROPERTIES: Artists who are cataloged with dates in parentheses indicate it is our opinion that this artwork was created or designed by the artist listed. Artists born before 1800, works created before 1870 and works identified as School of, Manner of, After or by other limiting or speculative descriptors do not apply to the following: Notwithstanding any Terms of Sale, if within 14 calendar days of the sale, HFA has received notice in writing from the original buyer of record of any artwork that authorship is in error and also within this time period this error is confirmed by a certified letter from an independent appraiser satisfactory to HFA, our firm will set aside the sale and refund to the buyer the amount paid by the buyer for the lot, excluding shipping. This limited warranty is specific to authorship only and does not extend to condition, restoration, medium size, losses, relationship of an artist to a multiple edition or any other defect. Any artwork returned for refund under the above provisions must be returned to HFA in the same condition it was in at the time of sale. The same applies to jewelry or watches misdescribed as to the physical qualities of the jewelry and such inaccuracy is confirmed by a certified letter from an independent appraiser satisfactory to HFA, then our firm will set aside the sale and refund to the buyer the amount paid by the buyer for the lot. Physical Qualities are limited to descriptions of karat, weight of metal, type of stone or metal, carat (weight of stone), and cut of stone. The above provisions allowing return and refund will not be applicable upon evidence of any physical removal or tampering. Watches are covered by the same 14-day limited guarantee and terms as jewelry as the manufacturer of movement and case. Manufacturer of the dial, bezel and bracelet is not guaranteed unless specified.

CONDITION REPORTS: HFA publishes condition reports for most lots in the item description. As time allows, HFA and its employees will provide, upon request, supplementary reports and additional photographs for items contained within the current auction catalog. This service is provided as a courtesy only and requesting a condition report in no way changes the Terms of Sale. We are not professional conservators, and we urge you to inspect each lot in person or retain an agent do so on your behalf. Prospective buyers should satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by HFA or its employees is a subjective qualified opinion, notwithstanding written reports. ABSENTEE & ONLINE BIDDING: As a service, HFA provides several absentee bidding formats that vary by event to those who cannot or choose not to attend the auction live online or in person depending on the particulars of the sale. Please see bidding instructions posted elsewhere. By submitting a bid of any type, the prospective purchaser consents and agrees to the Terms of Sale. HFA is not liable or responsible for any errors or failure to execute any bids.

BIDDING: The highest bidder acknowledged by the auctioneer will be the buyer of that lot. In the event of any dispute, the auctioneer shall have sole discretion to either determine the successful bidder or to re-offer for bidding the lot in dispute. HFA may refuse any bid, divide, or combine any two or more lots and/or withdraw any lot or lots from the sale.
Some lots may be offered subject to a reserve, which is a minimum price below which such lots will not be sold. HFA may implement such reserves by bidding on behalf of the seller. HFA reserves the right to allow its employees to bid competitively at all auctions for their own payable accounts.
A buyers premium of 25% (unless otherwise indicated) of the successful bid price will be added to each lot and is payable by the purchaser as part of the total purchase price of each lot. All purchases, including buyer's premium, are subject to Florida state and California and local sales taxes. Buyers will be required to pay Florida 7% California 8.25% sales tax at the time of payment unless items purchased will be shipped out of FL by a registered ICC carrier or buyer provides HFA with a valid FL resale number.

SHIPPING: HFA has limited in-house shipping for smaller items and certain types of jewelry, silver and watches. Please contact us in advance of the auction if you wish to see if the lot in which you are interested can be handled by our shipping department. We will be pleased to provide a list of shippers and packers that our clients have successfully used, or you can have your own shipper handle your purchases. Please contact the shipper of your choice to arrange for pick up and packing of your items. Your items will be released as soon as payment clears our bank. We request that your shipper schedules pick up times at least 24 hours in advance; this will ensure no delays in pick up, and release of your purchases. Please be aware that the item will be packed in a box that is proportionally larger than the object itself and will be in many cases be considered dimensional DIM weight. Shipping carriers charge based on maximum allowable weight for the size of the package. Your boxed purchase will likely weigh less than the stated weight on which the bill is based.

STORAGE: Storage fees of $10 per day if not picked up within 30 days after receiving your invoice. Items paid will be considered abandoned after 80 DAYS and all funds received WILL NOT be refunded and considered payment for storage. All unpaid auction wins will be considered abandoned after 30 days if no communication is made within receipt of the invoice.

CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION OF BIDDER: Your bid is a legally binding contract. If you are the successful bidder, you have entered a contract to purchase the property bid on from the seller. You should contact HFA to resolve any questions prior to placing any bids.
The Terms of Sale will take precedence over any other conditions, whether printed or posted on internet websites. Terms of Sale may be amended by posted notices or by announcement from the auctioneer. Hess Fine Auctions Live Auctioneers Sales Conducted by: Katrina M. Hess, Florida Auctioneer License AU#4434, ATN Properties, AB#3356
If you choose to pay by credit card or PayPal, please note that we impose a surcharge of 3% on the transaction amount on all credit card transactions, which is not greater than our cost of acceptance.