Three types of auctions, ten auctions a year, and a great choice of instruments.
Find an Auction
Amati holds an auction of stringed musical instruments almost every month of the year. We have three distinct types of auction: Specialist Auctions, Amati Affordable Auctions, and Single Owner Auctions.
Amati Online Auctions take place online. We use high quality photography for all our lots. The auctions last 12 days, and you can bid at any time. Bidding is particularly intense on the last day.
Amati hold Viewing Days so you can admire and examine the items that interest you. We always recommend that you try an instrument in person before you start bidding.
Occasionally some items remain unsold. If so, we hold online bidding open for the unsold lots. The aftersales period lasts 2 days.
After each auction, Amati holds a collection day in London where you can pick up your purchases.
Specialist auctions focus on violins, violas, cellos, and bows of exceptional quality and high worth.
Amati holds Specialist Auctions at least four times a year. These important auctions are for the sale of violins, violas, cellos, and bows of exceptional quality and high worth. Prices range from £1000 to more than a million pounds.
Amati Specialist Auctions attract a keen global market of professional players, investors, collectors and dealers. At the viewing days, held before each auction, the instruments can be admired and played by interested clients. Viewing days are held in the beautiful surroundings of The Langham Hotel, London, UK.
Interesting and varied collections put together by experts, makers and dealers.
Amati often hold Single Owner auctions at which we sell the stringed instrument collections of knowledgeable owners or retiring dealers. Each collection is different: we have sold luthiers tools, violins in the white, much-loved instruments ready to be repaired, and many fine violins, violas and cellos.
The joy of an Amati Single Owner auction is that the collector has already chosen his preferred instruments from the mass of stringed instruments available. Furthermore, the violins, violas and cellos that come up for sale in a Single Owner auction have often been out of the market for some time.
The perfect place to pick up a good quality violin for daily use, a child’s first instrument or a cello to restore, spare fingerboards, chin rests, pegs and tools.
Amati Affordable Auctions are run slightly differently from the Specialist Auctions. It is our usual practice not to put a reserve on items sold through an Amati Affordable Auction. In economists’ terms, we let the market decide what an instrument is worth.
We find that this works very well. The auctions are hugely popular with dealers and private customers alike. So, although all instruments in an Amati Affordable Auction have a starting price of £10, the great majority of the instruments sell for more than that, usually in the region of £200 to £5000. The highest price so far achieved for a single lot at an Amati Affordable Auction was £37,500
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Amati sells a broad range of violins, violas, cellos and bows suitable for those just starting out to internationally recognised soloists.
Amati sells violins, violas, cellos and bows for every budget and level of skill, from a child’s first violin to the fine instruments of the professional musician. Our experienced and friendly team is at hand to help throughout the buying process.
EXPLORE MORETo bid on any of the items (known as Lots) you wish to buy, you need to register as a buyer. We recommend that you register in good time (at least an hour before a lot is due to end), as your registration must be processed before any bids are accepted.
EXPLORE MOREOnce registered, you will be able to bid for items you want in Amati auctions. You can set your price by selecting a fixed increment from drop-down lists tailored to each lot. Bids can be placed from the time the live auction is published online until the auction closes. Each lot has a specific end time, as indicated by the ticking clock on each lot.
EXPLORE MOREOnce the auction has finished, you will receive an email informing you if your bid was successful. An invoice will be emailed the day after the auction, or as soon as we have the shipping quotation. We will also include our commission (22% + VAT) on your final, successful bid (the hammer price).
EXPLORE MOREOccasionally, not all the lots in an auction are sold. If this is the case, we hold bidding open for the unsold lots.
EXPLORE MOREWith auctions almost every month, Amati is well-placed to help you sell your instrument.
The first step is to find out how much your stringed instrument or bow is worth and, where possible, establish who made it.
EXPLORE MORESometimes instruments and bows require closer inspection in order to establish who made it and its potential value.
EXPLORE MOREIf you decide to sell your instrument, the next step is to complete a consignment form. The consignment form is a written record of the agreed estimates, the reserve (if you and the specialist choose to set one) and the costs of sale, which include our standard seller’s fee.
EXPLORE MOREBack in Amati’s UK offices, we will describe and photograph your instrument in preparation for the auction catalogue. We are the only stringed instrument auctioneers who use 360° photography, which gives our buyers a clear view of the quality of your instrument.
EXPLORE MOREYou will receive an email a few days after the auction informing you if your instrument was sold or unsold. If it sold, we will request payment information. Payment is sent by bank transfer 35 days after the auction date. We can also issue a Sterling cheque to UK clients, if that if your preference.
EXPLORE MORE“James Buchanan was a super nice guy with tons of information at his fingertips. He was efficient and helpful, as well as professional and friendly! It was a pleasure meeting up with him!”
“Just to say thank you to Simon for giving me a valuation on my 2 violins yesterday in Newcastle. His advice was very informative & it was a pleasure to meet him.”
“Thank you very much for your part in arranging our instrument valuation with Simon in Colchester yesterday. The experience greatly exceeded our expectations in the level of individual attention we received and care that he took over explaining the finer details. It was a very enjoyable and enlightening session; please pass on our thanks to him again, Best wishes, Elaine Henson and Stephen Mitchell”
“I would like to thank you and your colleagues for the highly efficient way you have dealt with this sale and for keeping me so well informed from start to conclusion of the sale.”
“I had a very positive experience with Amati who valued my two violins. The administration was very efficient and the location very convenient. I know very little about violins in general but the valuation session with Simon Howes was extremely interesting and informative. The arrangement was offered that I could contact Amati again if I wanted to auction my violins and I would certainly not hesitate to do so.”
“I sold a violin last year through Amati and they recently had my bow valued for free. Oswald, James, Sarah and Charlott are all incredibly helpful, polite, efficient and competent! I most recently spoke to James and he honestly couldn’t have been more helpful and insightful. I’m far from being an expert so it was extremely reassuring when the time was taken to provide me with all the information I could need. Oswald was similarly brilliant last year. As for the auction last year, it went well too and I was happy with the outcome. My thanks to the whole team. Amati is thoroughly recommended!”
“Payment received thank you very much, and thank you for your excellent service.”
“I was impressed with your complete service from my initial email and phone call to the fund transfer and everything in between”
“Many thanks for selling our late father’s violins for us. You did a great job!”
“Have a wonderful weekend and thank you. We are very pleased with what our violins have achieved and we’re happy that they are going to good homes where they are appreciated and played.”
“I look forward to receipt of the amount realised, after deduction for commission due to Amati. In the meantime, I would like to thank you and your colleagues for the highly efficient way you have dealt with this sale and for keeping me so well informed from start to conclusion of the sale.”
“From the first time we met in the valuation of Gothenburg has been a simple and pleasant dialogue on the sale of our items. Many thanks for your help!”
“It’s hard not to be pleased. Straight, clear information and regular updates. I give Charlott and James at Amati honours and my warmest recommendations.”
“Thank you also for your many phone calls and updates by email. This was a new experience for me, and my contact with Amati to date has been enjoyable and stress free.”
“Thank you for your email with the news about the sale of the Paul Bailly violin. It seems quite a good result and I am very pleased with the outcome.”
“Many thanks again to you and your colleagues, especially Oswald for the work undertaken to achieve a very good outcome in the sale of my violin and bow.”
“Wow, well done! Simply amazing, never thought that would happen.”
“I took my violin and a couple of bows to be valued at The Amati Exhibition at The Langham. The service was absolutely excellent. I was also shown the collection of instruments being auctioned and James Buchanan and his colleagues imparted so much knowledge and were really helpful and very friendly. Highly recommended!”
