Dear Friends, Family and Loyal Supporters,
I am writing you today not just as the CEO of FORTUNA® but as a concerned citizen at a time in which fear and uncertainty has permeated our lives. More importantly, I write you this message out of a sense of responsibility and from a place of confidence, faith, and determination.
Most of our daily lives have completely transformed with the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19); however, we view this situation as an opportunity to step up as leaders in our industry and work together to battle this threat. We will continue to provide a safe, healthy, and exciting experience as we always have, and innovate to adapt to these newly developed circumstances.
Regarding Health & Safety:
At FORTUNA we are taking very specific steps in our efforts to combat this threat and to protect our team and clients. FORTUNA’s NY office is temporarily closed and our entire staff is now working remotely, in compliance with the statewide response to stunt the spread of COVID-19. However, our phone lines are still active and we will attend to all of your calls.
We will continue to closely monitor updates from state and federal authorities, along with guidelines set by the CDC and WHO. If there are any significant changes to our services, we will inform you as soon as possible. To ensure you receive our updates, please subscribe to our mailing list here:
Regarding Future Auctions:
We are still keeping to our 2020 auction schedule and haven’t postponed or cancelled any sales. We encourage you to participate via our state-of-the-art digital bidding platform, either by visiting our auction site or by downloading our free mobile app for iOS or Android. For an instructional video on how to set up and use our app and/or bid online, please click here.
At FORTUNA, we are truly blessed to have a business that can interface with our clientele as effectively through our innovative technology as we can in-person. Whether this is your first time bidding with us remotely or you are one of our many remote international bidders, I am excited to inform you of significant improvements to the ways you can participate in our auctions from the comfort and safety of your home:
- We are now including close-up video shots of every lot offered in our online catalog, providing a more realistic view of its general size, what it looks like from multiple angles, and its presence in a room.
- We are also pleased to introduce a new service, Virtual Preview, in which you can video chat with our specialists directly for a closer look on lots of interest. To schedule a Virtual Preview with one of our specialists, simply call our office at (212) 389-9040 or email condition@fortunaauction.com.
- Everyone interested in the excitement of an auction can watch it streamed live on our website and on our Facebook page on the day of the sale.
Until we are able to open our showroom to the public, we are committed to providing our buyers with every alternative method possible of viewing our auction offerings so that they can bid with confidence.
Regarding Selling with FORTUNA:
While our NY office is still closed, we are still accepting consignments for upcoming auctions. We ask that you contact us in regards to any items of jewelry or watches you are planning to send to our office so that we can provide you with an updated, insured shipping label, to monitor and track the package. If you have any questions about getting started with selling through FORTUNA or you have an ongoing consignment, please contact us at (212)389-9040 or email us at valuation@fortunaauction.com.
Wishing all the best to you and your loved ones! We hope you can join FORTUNA online!
Kind Regards,
Herbert John Saxon, CEO of FORTUNA®