Located in Bilbao, Sala Moyua Brancas opened in 1996 and has remained the only existing permanent Auction Room in the Basque Country and the North of Spain for more than 16 years.
Our history is linked to the Brancas Family and dates back to 1910 when Rafael Von Brancas began importing the lastest in watches and optical-equipment from Germany, his home country,
for the use and enjoyment of high Society in Bilbao. The latest creations from Germany were displayed at his small optical-watch shop on the corner of Alameda de Mazarredo with Gran Vía.
In the 30s and 40s the business called Joyería Amparo, Vda. Brancas moved to a new site in Calle Astarloa and it was devoted to the trading of jewelry and watches. The first cultured
pearls and Swiss watches developments were created for an increasingly affluent society.
In the 60s, Rafael Brancas opened a new Auction Room to the amazement of the locals. Joyería -Relojería Berna in the Plaza Moyua becoming the official outlet for Omega watches and were
designed in the style of the great Parisian jewelers. Wonderful pieces were displayed in its windows, many of them already in the hands of national goldsmiths (highlighting Catalan creations
of the time).
More establishments were opened in Bilbao during the 60s and 70s. JOYERIA BRANCAS in calle Ercilla was notable due to the innovative designs. This was new school. A new goldsmith had
been created whose avant-gardish designs were very fashionable at that time.
It was not until well into the 70s, after the Swiss watchmaking crisis began and quartz started to be used in watches, that the business was transformed to include the purchasing and
sale of jewelry and antiques.
In the early 90s, a spectacular jewelry antiques shop opened in Calle Ercilla.
However, the activity of the periodic antique watches and Art Auctions started in 1996. Sala Moyua now has many facilities located in the commercial heart of Bilbao with offices,
multipurpose Exhibition and Auction rooms, instruments and modern equipment to analyse Art pieces, safety systems, close circuit TV (CCTV), a vault and so on.
Since then there have been more than 83 auctions which are frequently used as a reference to value Jewelry and watches and for the treatment of classic pieces, by antique dealers,
jewelers and collectors.