Vintage View: Antiques and vintage pieces

Thinking of investing in some works? Here are some useful tips, writes Kya deLongchamps.

WITH the markets of every kind so reactive, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to consider taking a chance on your own eye and building up a collection of objects that might some day realise more than you paid for them. So, what about antiques and vintage pieces? You can’t sit on your traditional pension plan or use it to decorate the house — it’s just paperwork and payments. Putting some cash into investment pieces you can enjoy chasing down, live with and love — is it worth a try? As a medium to long-term investment with low liquidity only proceed with money you can afford to lose.

Like all markets and all areas of décor especially tastes change. The realised sale price for things goes up and down in the antiques and collectables world. Chinese collectors are buying back 18th and 19th century export wares in ceramic their parents would formerly have ignored. New areas open up, older collectors pass away leaving a new generation whose interiors styling and material obsessions may be quite different. The time you need or want to sell may not be the moment the market for that thing is at its height. Put aside the idea of a gilt-edged guaranteed return, and make this as well calculated a risk as possible. We’re not talking about a highly rare museum quality Art Deco sculpture or Liz’ Taylor’s pear-shaped diamond, but middle-of-the-road pieces most people with a reasonable income could afford.