BORDERS residents have the chance to invite a world-famous auctioneer to look round their homes this week.

Bonhams is delivering a free valuation service through video conferencing apps.

And this week, households in the Borders are under the spotlight, with residents being asked to dig out paintings, jewellery, furniture and collectables.

Bonhams Scotland managing director Charles Graham-Campbell said: "We’re trying to adapt and do these valuations in a way that’s safe for everybody.”

Appointments are available from Tuesday until Thursday (May 5-7), 10am to 12pm.

Items that can be assessed include paintings, silver, jewellery, ceramics, glass, clocks, works of art, furniture, Asian items, and collectables such as whisky.

Mr Graham-Campbell, 55, said: “We’ve always provided valuations where people have sent in photographs but we haven’t actually done a Zoom, Teams or WhatsApp virtual meeting – a video going round a house looking at objects.

“So this is something new, it’s the antique world adapting to the situation we currently find ourselves in. Like other places, we are shut down at the moment.

"We can’t do a lot of work, but we’re happy to try and help people where we can.”

Mr Graham-Campbell said it is more useful to see the house via video than to have photographs sent to the company.

He said: “We’re quite used to handling photographs and working from photographs as a profession.

"It is always best to handle things, and there is always a caveat that the valuation is subject to further research.

“But when we ask people to send in a photograph, they send in a photo of what they think is valuable, and what they think is a family heirloom.

"But so often when we go to a house, we’re asked to go and look at a piece of furniture, for example, but actually it’s a small Chinese vase, sitting inside a cabinet, that’s the valuable little item and they’ll make more money than all the furniture put together. And they won’t have necessarily known that.”

Even during the COVID-19 crisis, valuations continue to be required, Mr Graham-Campbell said.

“People take over something or inherit it and suddenly need an accurate insurance valuation and we can again have a look round and provide a stopgap valuation, until the times when we can do things in the correct manner,” said Mr Graham-Campbell.

“Things that are being valued for a business need to be done to comply with their insurance every five years or something.

"Items need to be valued either for insurance or for probate, or executry purposes."

Much of Bonhams’ business is auctioneering, which has also had to be put on hold.

Mr Graham-Campbell said: “With the situation as it is now, there are some people wanting to raise a sum of money and they’ve maybe invested in antiques in the past and they’re using that as part of their pension fund.

"They’ve maybe spent more on buying some paintings than putting into a pension fund and then they’re wanting to realise those assets just to live or give something to their children who are having a hard time and not working at the moment.”

Scottish auctions normally take place at the Bonhams venue in Queen Street, Edinburgh, and these will also now be taking place online.

Mr Graham-Campbell said: “We’re starting to do virtual auctions – we’ve done online auctions in the past, so we’re quite used to doing them, but we’re starting to work out how we can do more of them and then we’re going to do a live auction behind closed doors.

"We’re hopefully going to be able to do that with maybe a live auctioneer and telephone bidders working from home and a clerk at a safe distance away.

"But the actual venue will be shut to the general public, and the public will be at home bidding away on their computers.

“There are ways that we can work in a safe manner in the near future.”

To book a virtual valuation appointment, or for more information, email valuations.scotland@bonhams.com or call Charles Graham-Campbell on 07831 201173