Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2008 | Page 30

life INTERVIEW

Bidding for success
Tim Smith auctioneer in action (left) pictured with Warren Richies from Island Auction Rooms

Tim Smith has just celebrated 40 years as an auctioneer. It’s been
fun, he tells Roz Whistance

A flick of an eyelid. The twitch of a
finger. Hands cupped over mouths
to conceal urgent phone-calls. This
is the world of the sale room, and
after 40 years as an auctioneer and
valuer, Tim Smith’s enthusiasm for
the world of antiques is far from
diminishing.
“It’s a bug! The more you learn
in the world of antiques, the more
you want to know,” says Tim. Of
course, if your 40th anniversary

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is marked by the most prestigious
sale of your career, you are pretty
likely to feel buoyed up. In August
Tim brought his gavel down on a
rare long-case clock which sold
for a record breaking £240,000.
Realising the price for his client
was not only a huge feather in his
own cap, but also highlighted the
Isle of Wight as equal to any of the
London auction rooms.
“The sale room was packed – there

was a lot of world wide interest,”
Tim explains. “A representative
from a major clock retailer in
Winchester, on behalf of a client,
was in the room, and a collector
from the Isle of Man was bidding
by phone.”
The very fact his clients chose to
sell the clock through Tim, rather
than go to a major London room,
says everything about Tim’s values
in business. “They said I’d always

been loyal over the years, so when I
reached the price I did – especially
as it had been entered in a London
sale a few years ago and failed to
reach its guide price – my clients
and I were delighted with the final
result.”
Tim puts his success down to
those old-fashioned values of
trust and loyalty. “I treat all of my
clients in the same way. Whether
they’ve got a one pound item or

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