I decided to buy an antique Georg Jensen brooch for my wife’s birthday. So, as I do, I decided to research the subject so that I could make an informed decision when it came to picking the right piece.
As it turned out, the challenge was finding the right piece. Of course my first port of call was the internet ( for research) where e-bay offered me at least a couple of potential pieces. The problem was that I’m not really convinced about buying antique jewellery from e-bay. But I did find a dealer in New York who I felt more confident about. But what I really wanted was a chance to hold the brooch in my hand, look at it for real. And so I set about looking for dealers in the U.K. And that’s when I discovered Jeremy Sniders. Jeremy has an antique shop in Glasgow, which specialises in Scandinavian pieces. And after a quick call I learned that he had not one, but three Jensen brooches for me to see in the flesh as it were. So I arranged a visit.
And that’s when the meaning of service really kicked in. When I arrived to see the brooches, the owner had left for home and his assistant was running the shop. She showed me the pieces, which were all lovely, and I started asking her questions. Like “How old are they?” “Who designed them?” bla bla.
And she said she had no idea, but she insisted that it would be fine for her to call the owner and pass him on to me. Which she did. And after a few questions he said, “ Hang on I’ll come back in.” True to his word one hour later I returned to the shop and there he was. We then had a long, in depth and fascinating chat about the history of the pieces. He taught me how to identify genuine Georg Jensen work and how to date a piece. (Most on e-bay are wrongly dated by the seller, to the seller's benefit....). He asked me where else I’d looked for a piece, and he even checked out the New York website I’d found and gave me his views on that dealer’s pieces concluding “I think his stuff is very good and well priced you should consider buying one of his.”

But by now I was absolutely convinced I wanted one of Mr Sniders’ brooches. I’d held them; I knew when they were made (the one I was to buy for Fran was made in 1937) and who designed them (Fran's piece was designed by Arno Malinowski).
After talking to Mr Snider, I was sold, and shortly afterwards so was the brooch.

The fantastic service didn’t end there. He even called me later in the month to ask if my wife liked her present and volunteered to buy it back if she didn’t. (she did)

That's probably the best service I’ve ever experienced.

It’s a lesson for all of us in these difficult trading times.
Know your subject; show true passion in everything you do; have integrity; and don’t ever try and force the sale.
It certainly works for Jeremy.