The Quarrymen holds the record for recording a cover song of legendary Buddy Holly called “That’ll Be The Day” and it is worth around US$200,000.00.

Photo Credit: MEN Photo Credit: russelljsmith

If you are trying to remember if you ever heard of them, do not despair because 99% of the music lovers in the whole world probably do not know this band. The only reason this record ever gained value is because three members of the Quarrymen went on to formed the most successful and probably the most legendary band in the history of music, The Beatles.

George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney along with two other guys formed a group called The Quarrymen. Since most of them are attending a school called Quarry Banks, they decided to create a band, which lasted only until 1958. The other two guys left the band, added another guy by the name of Ringo Starr and the rest is history.

Currently, Paul McCartney is the owner of the most expensive record. The monetary value of US$200,000.00 was given my music industry experts along with antique specialists.

Antique aficionados in Asia would be treated to some of the most exciting galleries of international art and antiques this October.  The Hong Kong International Art & Antiques Fair started last October 4 and will end up on the 7th at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition.

Photo Credit: KHIAAF

It will showcase a diverse collection of antiques and arts not only from Asia but also from America and Europe from the Neolithic time until the contemporary art. A total of around 300 million HK dollars worth of high valued items are at everyone’s perusal.

Photo Credit: flibblesan Photo Credit: jamtea

The 3rd Hong Kong International Art & Antiques Fair will not only open around 80 galleries but will also be a venue for lectures and important discussions regarding art by some of the leading experts in the different antique categories. It would be wise for every antique lover to visit the fair and not only be mesmerized by the collections the antique fair is offering but also participate in the lectures and forums.

If you missed the first three days, don’t despair, you can still catch the antique fair tomorrow between 11 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon. You need not buy any ticket since it is free and open to the public.

Watches will always be coveted by collectors as it is apparent in every auction showcasing old vintage wristwatches or pocket watches.  Since it was created back in the 1500s in Germany, it has become an integral part of our life.  We take pride on the style, the make, the brand and art that our watch holds for us.

Even if wristwatches are what most people are wearing this 21st century, those old pocket watches still attract many watch aficionados just like this 18K rose gold pocket watch that was made back in 1820.

It is called The Forge by Esquivillon et Deschoudens à Genève.

It has a five automaton actions that is extremely rare.  Watch connoisseurs said that it is quite unique and very original to see a watch with 5 separate actions.  It has white enamel, Arabic black numerals, seated cherub on the center in a bridge along with a flower vase, striking bells, etc .

Before the auction, it was estimated to fetch around HK$300,000 to HK$370,000 but it was sold for HK$492,000.00.

Clearly, the market for rare pocket watches is still very strong. I am quite fascinated by them.  They are practical, functional and a great investment rolled into one.

Photo Credit: Antiquorum

Vases from china are indeed quite special especially this one particular vase worth US$10,122,558.  It was created way back in the Ming Dynasty in China between 1368 - 1644.

It is a porcelain vase that was created using what they call the firing techniques of porcelain vase making. 

The treasured and most expensive vase was purchased from in pristine condition from the Christie’s Imperial HK Sale by Casino mogul and art collector Steve Wynn who was often been ridiculed for purchasing second rate items for astronomical amounts.

However, on this instance he redeemed himself from his critics. Steve Wynn also surprised everyone when he returned the said vase to China by donating the US$10 million plus Ming vase to a Macau museum instead of keeping it to his personal collection.

It is amazing how one vase, which does not look that much different from the other porcelain vases, unless of course you have an expert’s eye, value that much be regarded as rare most especially when so many forgeries was also made during the Ming Dynasty as to protect the original ones.

However, we can be assured that it was the original one since the Chinese also printed guides on how to detect the fake ones.

Photo Credit: Luxist

One of the great mansions in Herefordshire, home to fabulous antiquities, furniture and priceless artworks will be auctioned tomorrow along with its entire content at Bonhams. Auctioneers expected to fetch around 5 million pounds for it.

The owner, Lady Pamela Pidgeon, due to illness, decided to put the mansion and its contents to auction since she won’t be able to manage it anymore. Lady Pidgeon was an antique and art connoisseur transformed this 10-bedroom mansion into an antique showroom, which attracted many rich and famous from different parts of the world.  She even bought a fleet of limos and built a helipad just to accommodate her prominent and elite buyers.

After categorizing and appraising the contents of the 18th century mansion, the experts found out that the contents inside the house has more monetary value than the Brampton House itself. They expected to have around 700 lots to be auctioned tomorrow. Prices range from 100 pounds to 80,000 pounds per item while the mansion is expected to fetch around 2 million pounds.

One of the main highlights of the entire auction is a Marchioness of Donegal painting by Francis Coates is being auctioned at a starting price of 60 thousand pounds.

View the entire list of items on this link.

Photo Credit: Bonhams, Dailymail

High-tech digital cameras are quite expensive gadgets in the 21st century but they are not necessarily the most expensive. Surprisingly, the most expensive camera in the world is a Daguerrotype camera built by Susse Freres back in 1839.

You would think that when it comes to functionality, people would put more value on the latest technology. I already know that there is money in antiques especially when it’s a product of craftsmanship or art; however, we are talking here about gadgets.

Anyway, experts refer to it as the world’s oldest commercially produced camera. It was auctioned back in 2007 in Vienna, Austria with a world record amount of EUR 576,000. A private collector was said to have purchased the camera.

Another camera holds the record for the most expensive portable camera in the world. It is the Leica No, 107 from the Leica 0-series produced by Oscar Barnack. It was quite a historical piece because it was one of the only 21 Leica cameras that were built in order to test the marketability of portable cameras back in1923. Apparently, according to records, this particular camera was the very first Leica to have been exported to New York for patent purposes.

It was sold for an amount of EUR 336,000 also in Vienna, Austria conducted by Westlicht Auction House.

Photo Credit: Westlicht

Peter Carl Faberge created the Faberge Eggs as commissioned by Russia’s Tsar Alexander III to be given as Easter gifts to his beloved wife, Tsarina Maria Feodorovna. The uniquely and lavishly designed Faberge Easter Egg collection started with ‘The First Hen Egg’ as I have mentioned from one of my previous posts and as promised here’s part two of the Faberge collection and their whereabouts.

The Court of  Tsar Alexander III and Tsarina Maria of Russia

The first 10 Faberge eggs out of the 69 Faberge eggs are called Imperial Eggs. These eggs was specifically created and actually delivered to the Tsarina Maria from 1885 up to 1894.  From the 10 eggs only seven are accounted for: The First Hen Egg (1885), Blue Serpent Clock Egg (1887), Danish Palaces Egg (1890), Memory of Azov Egg (1891), Diamond Trellis Egg (1892), Caucasus Egg and the Renaissance Egg (1894).

The other three went missing: Hen Egg with Sapphire Pendant (1886), Cherub with Chariot Egg (1888), Necessaire Egg/Pearl Egg (1889) and up to this day, historians, collectors and art enthusiasts are at a loss on where to look for them. I personally hope they are somewhere stashed away along with someone’s personal collection. It would be so unfortunate if they were destroyed, with such intricate design, all should be given a chance to admire them.

The beauty of the eggs are not only limited to the outside design because each egg has a surprise inside, which is the Tsar’s only requirement. Here are some of them:

The Danish Palaces Egg - Owned by The Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation but is on loan to the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art in Nashville, Tennessee, USA

Memory of Azov Egg - Owned by: Kremlin Armoury Museum in Russia

Caucasus Egg - Owned by The Matilda Geddings Gray Foundation

Blue Serpent Egg - Owned by the Estate of Prince Rainier III of Monaco

Photo Credit: Wiki, Miek

The Faberge Eggs are one of the most expensive and unique Russian work of art. They were made by an imperial goldsmith/jeweler in Russia named Peter Carl Faberge.

Faberge’s previous work prior to the eggs caught the eyes of the wife of Russia’s Tsar Alexander III, Tsarina Maria Fyodorovna and so Karl Faberge was appointed “Supplier to the Court of His Imperial Majesty” in 1885.  During that same year, the Tsar commissioned Faberge to make a unique Easter Egg for his wife.

Thus, the very first Faberge Easter Egg was created and named aptly as First Hen Egg. Faberge was given full creative supervision for the eggs although the Tsar’s main requirement for the eggs was that it must contain a surprise inside.

Karl Faberge very first Imperial Easter Egg has the simplest design. It is very different from the rest of his collection, which were so elaborately designed. It is just an enameled opaque white shell resembling that of an egg, however, when you open it, it would reveal a golden yolk with multi-colored golden hen, a diamond replica of the crown and ruby pendant, thus, the surprise the Tsar required.

If you are asking how much it is right now, it is probably worth millions of dollars not only because gold and precious stones were used but also because of the historical significance it has since it is the very first egg. Just compare it to last year’s Faberge Egg Auction at Christie’s. It was sold at USD$18.5M. It was the Rothschild Clock Egg, an egg that was given as an engagement gift.

More on that particular bejewelled egg and the complete collection of the Faberge Eggs and their whereabouts on my next couple of posts.

Photo Credit: Treasures, Biblioteca

Americans are so patriotic that anything and everything about them, may it be past or present is such a huge deal for them especially if its about George Washington.  It is this fact that all their personal effects or anything connected to them are highly valuable and whenever a new item is discovered and entered into an auction, it attracts a lot of media attention and eventually draws a large number of bidders.

Photo Credit @ Solar

Some of those bidders either placed them on their personal collection or donate them to a museum.

Here are some of those personal effects of the George Washington, America’s first president that can be found at the Smithsonian:

A chair is his bedroom at Mount Vernon during the 1760s up to the 1790s which was said to where President Washington usually sat and was seen sitting before he died. When his wife died, the furniture and the rest of items from their estate were inherited by the first lady’s granddaughter in 1802. U.S. Congress raised enough funds to acquire the items and in 1883 they were displayed at the Smithsonian.

Washington’s battle sword and scabbard from 1770s which he always carries during the Revolutionary War.  He then left the sword to Samuel Washington, his nephew, an Army Captain in the Continental Army with specific instruction that he can only use the sword to defend himself and his country.  By 1843, Samuel Washington donated it to the U.S. government and later on was given to the Smithsonian for safekeeping.

Washington’s army uniform when he was still a general and when he became the commander-in-chief.  A uniform coat, a waistcoast and breeches is being displayed at the Smithsonian since 1883.  These articles of clothing were not worn by Washington together but he wore each item on a different event or time in his life.

Washington’s tent during the Revolutionary War in 1776.  Historical records show that around three tents were made for his use.  Those tents were made by Plunkett Fleeson, a known upholsterer in Philadelphia.  After his death, it was passed on to his adopted grandson who later on donated it to the U. S. government and eventually can be found at the Smithsonian.

Photo Credit @ Smithsonian

Most collectors want the most unique, the rarest, the elusive ones and the Japanese Kamo Ningyo Dolls is one type of antique doll, which falls into those three categories.

The word Ningyo means human form in English.  These wooden Kamo dolls were first seen back in 1736 in the Kamo Shrine in Kyoto and was said to be created by a shrine’s craftsman Takahashi Tadashige.  He used a willow wood to create the very first Japanese wooden Kamo Ningyo Doll and also was the very first to clothe a decoration especially a wooden one at that. They call this technique as kimekomi.

These Kamo Ningyo dolls usually depict a playful nature and designed in the most ordinary situation or acts of doing everyday stuff.  They come in small sizes about 1/3 to 1/4 inch high.  They can even come with unfinished look brought about by the wood’s color and texture.

Since it was originally created by a shrine’s craftsman, most of the early creations were used as souvenirs or charms during festivals.

Today, one can only find authentic Japanese Kamo Ningyo dolls at museums or private collection.  They are very rare and quite expensive. 

Photo Credit @ BandAntiques