Island Life Magazine Ltd October/November 2014 | Page 44

ANTIQUES

Tips!
talks antiques

Warren Riches
79 Regent Street, Shanklin, PO37 7AP
Telephone: [phone]

S

ince starting in this business in 1995 I have seen
both subtle and huge shifts in trends, prices and
technology. Working alongside my father who started
in the 1970s and Tim Smith who began even earlier, the
stories of whole house contents like an Aladdin’s cave were
common place; now these are much rarer.
The most dramatic change I have seen in my time has
been the drop in value over a period of several years of
‘brown’ furniture. In 1995 a Georgian mahogany chest
would easily make £2,000 to £3,000; now the figure
between £800 and £1,200 is the norm. A Victorian chest
of drawers may have made £400 to £600; now it’s more
like £100 to £200.
The trend has something to do with the minimalist
movement and the wish to have lighter clean-lined living
spaces, away from the Victorian habits of collecting things
which are now considered dust collectors! However, the
market has levelled out and indeed picked up in the last
year but, in my opinion, it will never go back to the good
old days and, on the whole, people have accepted this.
That is the downside, but the upside has been the boom
in good quality silver, gold and jewellery. Even the finer
quality ‘brown’ furniture has seen progress upwards
because quality always sells. A gold Krugerrand bought
back in the 1970s or 1980s will today be worth some three
or four times what it was bought for back then, and a good
quality diamond solitaire again will have increased as
demand for such items is now high.
The biggest change of all has been the introduction on
the internet to the industry. It means smaller auction
rooms have the ability to reach a massive buying clientele;
indeed we at Island Auction Rooms spend two weeks after
every auction packing and posting all around the world.
We have buyers across America and the rest of the world
purchasing jewellery and collectables, even a massive
£35,000 telescope (we did not pack that!).
We have Chinese buyers purchasing back any quality
oriental items, and this has made that market the hottest
one to be involved in lately.
So, to conclude, times have changed, as they always do.
It’s about adapting, embracing technology and looking
forward so that you can anticipate trends and be ready
when they come. The world now seems a lot smaller;
selling li ve online to a customer in New York who is
bidding against a regular from Ryde. So you can appreciate
there is never a dull day in the world of the auctions.

44

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Warren Riches:
Ask an expert!

W

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Auction report

nother bumper auction saw a collection of Antiques,
Silver, paintings and curios at Island Auction Rooms,
Shanklin, create the usual buzz among buyers and dealers.
A rare pair of German U-Boat binoculars made £1,250
with bidding via the internet in the US. In the silver section
a flamboyant pair of silver candelabra sold for £2,900.
Furniture also sold well, with buyers seeing the quality and
value in well made antiques.
A very good John Deere tractor, sit on lawnmowers,
statues, and very low mileage Citroen and Chevrolet cars
from estates, were among the lots on offer at a special sale at
Arreton Barns.