Monday 16 July 2012

WHAT PRICE A MASTERPIECE??


Now that the summer fairs are over, a moment to reflect. There are three top fairs in June/July. In sequence, Olympia, The Haughton Art Fair opposite the Albert Hall and lastly the so called best of the best, Masterpiece, on the Chelsea Flower Show site. There were clock dealers at Olympia, none at Haughton and 4 at Masterpiece. Without doubt the latter is the leading show with tens of £millions of stuff to suit all tastes but not all wallets. Masterpiece was the only Fair where tavern clocks were on show with prices ranging from high teens to £40k. A very rare red lacquered trunk with a black round dial and carved ears by Richard Laurence of Bath was on the Carlton Smith stand. A beautiful clock with really fine lacquer by a well known Bath maker. Howard Walwyn had two tavern clocks, one by Chappell which featured in the Lantern & Taverns exhibition and another standard round dial by Quartermaine of Aylesbury. The Chappell is an exceptionally rare shield dial with straight cut lower quadrant mouldings and a type of gilt work hardly ever seen on tavern clocks. Carter Wright were showing the miniature mahogany round dial teardrop with brass bezel by John Devis; this is one that got away from me which is featured in the forum on my site. A wonderful sleeper. The Cox shield dial made another appearance. Only the Laurence is a new find for me.

What is crystal clear is that the top of the range Golden Age clocks by Tompion, Knibb or Graham and a few other names are selling like hot cakes at prices well into 6 figures. For practically everything else the number of buyers dwindles. It is pleasing to see that the prices of the trophy clocks are moving up as the best of the horological offering is now pushing and in some cases exceeding £0.5m. Yes this is another league but it does mean that these clocks are starting to compete with other baubles for the attention of the big hitters. At this fair you could buy a Riva launch, a white Rolls the size of a small truck, a 1950’s original Jaguar C-type, a bespoke hand-made motor cycle, the finest wines, an unbelievable array of jewellery but unfortunately no Spitfire this year. Olympia did have a hall table made out of the nose-cone of a spitfire, fully chrome plated, mmm. If you came for serious art work, there was no shortage of recently painted daubs and the finest of old masters and everything in between. It was no problem to spend, say, £10-50k on a piece of art that kindergarten might have produced or on a wide selection of very mediocre older stuff. So a good beautifully made clock with history, craftsmanship, provenance and a maker’s name still performing its function after over 200 years should be attracting the punters. The Golden Age clocks are as rare as most of the works of art here and elsewhere but they do not reach the prices that one might imagine; they should be priced in the millions based upon rarity and quality. Antiques and works of art selling at prices in the £millions are for the investment market. Investors simply have yet to discover horology which is primarily a collectors’ market.

Does any of this matter?? Only if the trickle down factor is a reality. Markets are normally pyramid shaped with the best at the top, scarce and expensive with a structure all the way down to jumble. The decline in the value of clocks (and antiques in general) over the last ten years means that we do not have a structured market with the trickle down of value. We have the best and the rest with no connection between the two. This disconnection is serious as it means that restoration costs often exceed the value of clocks and over time the mid to lower end will not survive the rigours of use. It is to be hoped that what comes around goes around and that either investors wake up to the middle ground or that fashion solves the problem. We have waited ten years already, don’t hold your breath.