hr: Antiques

This coming October bid online or go to Christie’s Auction House in their New York branch at Rockefeller Plaza for this unique Boucheron antique diamond, enameled pendant watch with an estimated price somewhere between USD$10,000 - $15,000.

Photo Credit: Christies

This Frederic Boucheron pendant watch made back in 1895 might fetch a higher amount than the estimated value because it was uniquely designed as you can see from the photo above.

The House of Boucheron is known for the exquisite jewelry that its founder, Frederic Boucheron created for famous people.  The British, Dutch, Russian Royal Families are quite enamored with his creations. Even after his death, those who inherited the business proudly uphold his legacy of excellence. You may find the store he opened back in 1893 still standing at 26 Place Vendome.

Photo Credit: Boucheron

No wonder that their clientele boasts of A-list celebrities from the social, political and entertainment scene. Visit their website and take a look at their magnificent jewelry and watch collection .

One of the most important symbolic things between a husband and wife is their wedding rings and so they are considered one of the most fascinating types of antique jewelry.

Circa 1950 Selling Price $: 5,890.00

Even before the wedding day itself, the man would always undergo a certain pressure preparing for  the proposal as to what to buy for an engagement ring. They usually want to surprise or wow their women and when the wedding day comes, they wanted to make sure that the wedding rings are so rightly designed. It is of no surprise since they would both be wearing it as long as they are married.

Circa 1950, Selling Price $: 1800.00

It was discovered that the use if wedding bands can be traced back during the early Egyptian civilization as it was found on the walls described in hieroglyphics. Although, during biblical times, the Hebrews were already using them during their Christian rites.

CIRCA 1970, Selling Price $: 1475.00

If you are wondering why do married couples wear the wedding band on the fourth finger is because it was based on a Grecian fable that says that the fourth finger is directly connected to the heart. Since love comes from the heart, ergo, the ring symbolizes love or vice-versa.

Circa 1925

However, the trend during the Elizabethan era was to wear it in the thumb and for what reason, no one knows, maybe for fashion. They were called wedding circlet and the smallest circlet ever recorded was of Princess Mary, the daughter of King Henry VIII. Arranged marriages are often the “thing” for royalty, she was engaged/married to her spouse when she was two years old back in October 15, 1518.

Circa 1925, $5985.00

As time goes by, the wedding ring evolved, some got bigger, shinier and heavier. The more affluent the bridegroom the more it got expensive.

Photo Credit: Evelyn Kay, Topazery

Vacheron Constantin is the world’s oldest watch manufacturer in the world and considered to be included in the Big 3 Swiss watch giants in the world aside from Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet. Naturally, their creations are works of art and vintage Vacheron Constantin still fetches a high amount whenever it is auctioned or just sold either online or in “brick and mortar” antique stores.

Here are some classic vintage Vacheron Constantin timepieces I found in an online antique shop:

01 Vacheron & Constantin Moonphase Calendar circa 1945, $27,500
It has a diameter of 35mm with 18K yellow gold.

02 Vacheron & Constantin circa 1959, $ 8000
An 18K gold wrist watch with a black sun ray 36×26 mm dial, gold hands and numerals.

03 Vacheron & Constantin Cabriolet circa 1965, $1965
It has a 29 mm square dial, also an 18K gold travel watch, comes along with its original leather wallet. It is quite unique as it resembles a miniature clock because it swings.

04 Skeletonized Vacheron & Constantin circa 1969, $11,000
It is an 18K gold elegant skeletonized watch with a diameter of 30 mm.

05 Vacheron & Constantin circa 1937, $4,000
14K gold wrist watch with colored pink dial and gold markers in a rectangular case.

In case you are wondering why these timepieces were called with an “&” between the Vacheron and Constantin is because the company under a new management only dropped the “&” in from their brand name back in 1970.

It is also an interesting fact that their very first boutique shop can still be seen in Quai de l’Ile. It opened its doors to the buying public in 1906.

Photo Credit @ Bogoff

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

This coming October 16, an important and definitely historical Longines wristwatch of Albert Einstein, one the geniuses that mankind has produced,  will be auctioned in New York to be conducted by Antiquorum.

Photo Credit @Wiki

A lot of fans of this great scientist are expected to flock the NY Antiquorum auction and bid for it. It is quite fortunate that there are several photos on hand that shows Albert Einstein wearing it and that will surely fire up the bidding process.

The said Longines watch was presented to Einstein back in 1931 in Los Angeles. It has an estimated value of $25,000 - $35,000. However, with Einstein’s reputation and historical contributions, some believed that it will fetch a much higher amount.

Aside from the Einstein Longines watch, there are some classic, magnificently created watches from Patek Philippe, A. Lange & Sohne and Rolex that will be included on the October Sale.

Antiquorum is the leading watch auctioneer in the world and holds the record for the most expensive watch ever auctioned. It has offices in New York, Tokyo, Hongkong and Beverly Hills.

An amateur treasure hunter reportedly got lucky and discovered a 1400-year olf bejeweled gold cross which was estimated to value at 25,000 pounds in United Kingdom.

The treasure hunter unearth this antique 18-karat gold cross in the Nottinghamshire farms, which experts believed to be an Anglo Saxon cross since he found a Saxon penny and a copper plate on the same area just before he discovered the Cross. It has three distinctive red gemstones which are believed to be the Grantum stones or gems which apparently are the most ancient stones in the world.

When it was first examined by antiques specialists, they believed it could have been used as a pendant in the past.  They also speculated that it could have been originally a part of a religious relic and that it was made out of gold Mervingian French coins.

The location where the amateur treasure hunter found the gold Cross is being kept secret from the public for fear of a large number of people trying their own luck but they believed that more treasures will be found on that spot.

So, grab your metal detector and try checking out your backyard or the nearest park, you might get lucky too.

Photo Credit @ Elite

Political Collectibles are abundant these past few months, most especially this past couple of weeks as political national conventions were held in America. Both Democrats and Republicans are rallying to campaign either Barack Omaba or John McCain to be the next President come November.

Photo Credit @ essentialestro

What do we usually see during conventions or campaign trail, lots and lots of campaign materials. After all the speeches and a new one is sitting in the White House, there are many collectors who go for the different buttons, badges, t-shirts, etc and save then in their own treasure box.

This summer, an 1896 Chicago Democratic convention badge was sold in an auction with a price of $358.00. Another political memorabilia was sold for $168.00. It was a presidential campaign button for Dwight D. Eisenhower marked with “It’s time for a change” and “I like Ike”.

Collectors can save a couple or two of buttons with the faces of McCain or Obama and they might fetch a good amount of money in the future.

Photo Credit: kovels

One of the pillars in the Antiques Industry died last week after a brief illness and the whole industry is saddened by it.

Richard Kovel along with his wife, Terry was regarded as royalty in the antiques world. The couple through their books and special reports opened the idea of antique collecting as a hobby that is not exclusive for those elite members of the society.

They were the ones who inspired ordinary men and women to have an interest in collecting antiques. They wrote almost a 100 books and numerous special reports dedicated in educating and informing people in the various types of antiques and collectables.

The most popular is the yearly antique guidebook on the estimated prices of every known antique in the world, entitled, “Kovels’ Antiques and Collectibles Price Guide, which has been yearly published and released into the market since 1968. Aside from the yearly book, they are producing the longest-running syndicated weekly column in America, which is being read in around 150 broadsheets and reportedly has around 50,000 subscribers.

The couple also must have written in every popular antique related publication in the U.S and hosted their own successful television shows both in Discovery Channel and HGTV.

His company and family promised to continue what he and his wife started back in 1968. Incidentally, the 2009 Kovels’ Antiques and Collectibles Price List book was just released recently.

Thank you, Mr. Kovel for all the things you have done to the world of Antiques and Collectibles.

Photo Credit @ Benrose, Collectics