Watchlords

Everyone’s familiar with Antiques Roadshow, the TV program where members of the public have their dusty collectables examined and valued by experts. This often results in a pleasant surprise, as you can see from Time+Tide’s own coverage of some of the momentous watch discoveries on the show. But not all of the “reveals” are pleasant. A recurring disappointment involves furniture. For example, in 2018 an Irish silver table from 1740 was brought to appraisers in Belfast. It was beautifully designed and the grain of the wood was clear (video here, article here). The table looked brand new.

The appraiser mentioned that many of these tables are typically much darker in appearance, in part because original owners used peat to heat their homes and the soot would become deposited on furniture over time. The appraiser knew the table had been restored, “taken right down to the wood”, in his description. The owner agreed. And because of that restoration, the table lost AUD$13,400 of value. The dark soot and years of “damage” does not detract, it is actually valued by collectors. It bestows uniqueness onto furniture, it makes the table unlike any others. The work done on the table by a furniture restorer, intended to fix it, was actually damaging. Watch collectors: learn this lesson well. Because we can also fall prey to a similar mistake in damaging our vintage watch value.

https://web.archive.org/web/20200209161 ... chs-worth/

Good read.