Diamonds and antiques turn out to be an investor's best friend
Wednesday September 24 2008
FORGET the uncertainty of the stock exchange and the housing market -- would-be investors are being urged to consider putting their money into antiques, which is considered the nearest relation to a 'sure thing' in a downturn economy.
This is not just the case for millionaires who can afford to purchase a rare Georgian Irish silver coffee pot at €110,000, even those with humble sums have been assured that they can pick up a bargain that will withstand the rigours of the credit crunch if they choose a piece of furniture, painting, or an item of jewellery wisely.
As trucks busily unloaded valuable artwork, rare mahogany sideboards, delicate mirrors and glasswork at the RDS yesterday for the Irish Antique Dealers Association's annual fair which opens today, organisers say they are awaiting sales at the event "with fingers and toes crossed".
Figures from the Central Statistics Office show that in a marked reversal to the early days of the Fair in the 60s and 70s, more antiques are now entering the country than are leaving it, event organiser Louis O'Sullivan revealed.
Indicating
Naas antiques dealer Sean Eacrett carried in a rare Irish magohany and brass inlay side table from the late Georgian era, priced at €15,000, indicating that this was one such an Irish piece now returned to this country. He had picked it up at a sale in Bristol in the UK, he explained.
Mr Eacrett said that because nobody is putting money into housing or stocks, attention has now turned to antiques because people know a good piece will always hold its value.
Meanwhile Colin Weldon of Weldons Antiques in Dublin revealed that people have recently begun to put a lot of money into fine diamonds because their value is so solid.
The most expensive diamond which Weldons will have on sale at the Fair is an extremely rare six-and-a-half carat 'D colour' solitaire, priced at half-a-million euro.
Coincidentally, it was the same value as the jewellery being worn by Elaine Chapman of John Farrington's antique jewellers in Dublin, who said she had worn the pieces on her taxi ride across town "because it was safer to wear them than not."
Asked what it was like to wear half a million euro worth of jewellery, Elaine said "surreal."
The Antiques Fair opens at the RDS today and continues until Sunday.
- Nicola Anderson
