In a move that defies auction house traditions, Phillips has launched a new online platform offering the chance to buy rare and exquisite jewellery pieces without picking up a paddle. Coined Flawless, the new online destination is located on phillips.com, where exceptional jewels from renowned houses such as Cartier, Chaumet, Tiffany & Co. and Van Cleef & Arpels are available to purchase at a fixed price.

Moving away from physical exhibitions, the new website will connect collectors with Phillips’ global Jewels team via WhatsApp, WeChat, text, email or phone, 365 days a year – and will offer a private sourcing and selling service too.

Among the current jewels for sale are a pair of rare Van Cleef & Arpels diamond, pearl and platinum earrings, circa. 1960 for $33,0000; a Cartier sapphire and diamond bracelet, circa. 1965, for $129,800 and a Mauboussin necklace circa 1970 for $14,500. Alongside antique pieces from world-renowned jewellery houses, Flawless will also showcase designs by contemporary jewellers in a bid to modernise what is traditionally a heritage market.

To celebrate the launch, British jeweller Shaun Leane has curated a collection of 12 high and fine jewellery pieces, which will be available to buy exclusively on Flawless. The range is priced between $10,000 to $200,000 and includes some of Leane’s most-loved archive designs, as well as new bespoke creations produced to mark the 21st anniversary of his eponymous brand.

“As we continue our mission of championing the best in jewellery design, it is an honour to celebrate the launch with 12 exceptional jewels created by Shaun Leane, a remarkable innovator and trailblazer,” says Phillips’ Paul Redmayne, head of private sales, jewellery. “His genre-defining jewels have a powerful, emotive and often poignant beauty — reflecting the romance, unstoppable force and compelling contradictions of the natural world.”

Having made a name for himself creating pieces for the likes of Damien Hirst, Givenchy and the late Alexander McQueen, the designer has become renowned for his technical skill and craftsmanship, and the 12 pieces showcased on Flawless are no exception. Quill earrings set with more than 1,000 brilliant-cut diamonds hark back to provocative pieces designed for Alexander McQueen’s SS03 show, while a pair of Armis diamond cuffs, micro-set with 328 brilliant-cut stones, took three months to create.

“I see today’s woman as a romantic warrior, graceful, yet also full of strength, conviction and courage,” Leane says. “I aim to intensify the power of jewellery and create my jewels to provoke different emotions — confidence, fragility, seduction and protection — and to deliver a sense of inner strength and identity. Above all, I want my jewels to give a woman the freedom to be who she wants to be.”

The collection was originally set to be shown at New York Fashion Week this month before plans were curtailed by ongoing Covid-19 restrictions.

The collaboration between Phillips and Leane will continue through to 2021, with a selling exhibition of his work expected to take place in London and New York on as as-yet unconfirmed date.