9 Hot Collectibles Categories to Consider for Investment Potential
Some collectors consider investment potential when buying antiques and collectibles. While not everyone agrees with this approach, a number of auctioneers and dealers gave their views on items with the most investment potential or that are currently “hot.”
Auctioneers generally agree that today’s environment is much different from several years ago. Millennials—those people born between 1975 and 1995—have a different collecting profile than Baby Boomers, who were born between 1945 and 1964.
William Jenack of William J. Jenack Estate Appraisers and Auctioneers in Chester, N.Y., says, as a generalization, that Baby Boomers were the last generation of collectors. “Millennials, generally, are not interested in the things that their parents and grandparents had or collected and put in their cabinetsm” Jenack said. “To millennials, it is less important on how old an item is. It is more important that it be decorative. They are buying more of what they like rather than because it is old or by a well-known artist.”
Linda Stamm, owner of Winter Associates in Plainville, Conn., agrees that lifestyles have changed dramatically.
“Our parents generally got married in their early 20s, they saved for a house and saved for furniture,” said Stamm. “Today’s generation is not always getting married and not setting up house. They move around a lot. They are content with modern design and furniture from Pottery Barn or Ikea. They are spending money on travel, electronics and music. They are not nesters.”
Henry Broggi, the auctioneer at South Bay Auctions in Center Moriches, N.Y., is on the same page.
“The younger generation has a less-formal life style,” he said. “And everyone is busy.”
Within that context, the list of top nine items includes:
• Signed jewelry, vintage watches;
• Decorative items;
• Posters;
• Modern Art;
• George Ohr pottery;
• Mid-Century Modern furniture (from the 1950s and 1960s);
• Antique guns and decoys;
• First editions;
• Celebrity related items.
Signed jewelry, vintage watches
A number of auctioneers highlighted jewelry as a category that sells well. Jenack noted that jewelry is now their largest department, edging out paintings.
“Jewelry has the (intrinsic) value of gold and silver as well as being a vanity item that appeals to any generation,” he said.
Jenack also highlighted vintage wrist watches by famous makers as strong in today’s market, as well as fountain pens and cigarette lighters, especially if made of gold and by a big name, such as DuPont, Cartier or Waterman. “They are easy to ship and store and you can fit many in a small space,” explained Jenack. “These span the generation gap.”
Sarah Churgin, director of the jewelry department at Rago Arts & Auction Center, finds the hot area in jewelry is signed jewelry by blue-chip designers such as Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Tiffany and Company, David Webb, Bulgari, and Buccallati. Antique jewelry in original condition that evidence irreplaceable workmanship is in high demand. Other hot items are larger (untreated) gemstones in the fine and extra fine qualities notably sapphires, rubies, emeralds, tourmalines, aquamarines, jadeite, coral and amber.
Churgin adds that natural pearls are good investments. “(Pearls) are not inexpensive but I feel that they are a strong investment as they have always been a true rarity,” she said.
Decorative items
“Small decorative items in any category that are in perfect condition do well,” said Jenack. “Paintings and prints by well-known artists that have decorative merit do well.”
Jenack said if you compare a Rembrandt etching from the 16th century that is dark and gloomy looking (it may sell at about $3,000) with an exhibition poster, for example, by Henri Matisse that has a wonderful design and produced in the thousands (it may sell at $150), millennials will jump at buying the poster.
Artwork, Stamm says, has been consistent. “It is a huge category if you like modern art. “
Posters
Jack Rennert of Poster Auctions International finds that younger people are interested in posters. They particularly like the sharp graphics and fashions of the Art Deco period (1914-1940s) as opposed to posters of Belle Epoque (1871-1914) and Art Nouveau (1880-1914).Travel-, ski- and train-themed posters are popular with the younger generation.
Standard, top-of-the-line posters—e.g. Toulouse Lautrec and Cassandre—are doing well, said Rennert, who recently had a show featuring Josephine Baker posters that was particularly well-received.
The appeal of posters is that they are simple, speak directly to the potential buyer and are graphically interesting, said Rennert, who added that in an interesting development, museums are now buyers of posters as well.
At Rennert’s auctions, the average sales price for a poster is $4,000 to $5,000, though prices range from $1,000 to $40,000.
Modern Art
Broggi also points to modern art as a growing category while more classical older paintings are not.
Meredith Hilferty, director of Rago’s fine art department, highlights Calder, Op Art and Pop Art as still having investment potential even though they are hot in the market now and they also span the generations.
George Ohr pottery
David Rago, co-director of the 20th century design department at Rago Arts & Auction Center, says that he always steers people towards the pottery of George Ohr “because he’s a genius with a limited production of material, recognized by cross-over collectors from both sides of the ocean. He’s enough of a character and his work is sufficiently singular.”
Rago added that “Gehry’s museum on Ohr just opened. There are a dozen books out there showing his genius. Warhol collected him. Johns still collects him. Pots break and he stopped over a century ago. Prices are not at their lowest but they are mostly behind where they were six or seven years ago.”
Mid-Century Modern Furniture
Jenack pointed to furniture from the 1950s and 1960s as doing quite well, especially those with Danish designs that were often found in doctors’ waiting offices in the 1960s.
Antique guns and decoys
Broggi finds that antique guns and decoys are doing great, especially those of the best quality. He observes that 10 to 15 years ago, when money was less important than the item, many people in the top bracket made a lot of money. Those collections have increased in value.
Over time, the buying pool at the top is shrinking as collectors die, yet people are still buying.
First editions
Stamm points out that when a new product is introduced representing a radical or technical change, the first model or edition is usually the most collectible while the second, third or fourth aren’t. She illustrates the point with the rare, mint-in-the-box Barbie.
Celebrity related items
Stamm says millennials are fascinated with celebrity, as illustrated by Twitter accounts and reality television shows. Celebrity has always had holding power. The question, she says, is which celebrity has more holding power.
A Contrarian view
One dealer who strongly disagrees with the “buying for investment” approach is David Schorsch from Woodbury, Conn. “Those that do, miss the point. Pieces that tend to do the best are very rarely underpriced.”
Schorsch described a watercolor that he sold in 1984 for $44,000. At that time, the record for a watercolor was $18,000. When he re-acquired the piece 30 years later, it sold for $500,000.
“A masterpiece exists in its own universe,” he said. “Something like Gustav Klimt’s “Woman in Gold” is priceless. It is a masterpiece. The same can be said for a crock, a quilt, a decoy or a piece of furniture. Whatever the category, you should buy the best one available.”
Schorsch acknowledges that not everyone can afford extremely high prices, but he says they don’t have to because subcategories exist within categories. There may be a terrific miniature Shaker box for $15,000 compared with a mediocre Shaker box for $6,500. The mediocre box’s value may always stay at $6,500, while the one for $15,000 may appreciate.
OK, so what’s cold?
Auctioneers generally point to brown furniture. “Large furniture, such as an armoire, used to be sold for a reason, such as taking the place of a closet or hiding the TV. Those reasons no longer exist today,” Jenack says.
Schorsch agrees that formal furniture—those made from mahogany and walnut and which are seen at the Metropolitan Museum or Winterthur—is an undervalued area.
Broggi points out that, ironically, millennials talk about going green and recycling ye this is an area they bypass.
“Antiques are as green as you can get. Many people have used them and they are still useable,” said Broggi. “Furniture made of oak is strong and is of quality, it can last for hundreds of years.”
Lois Peltz is a writer and collector based in New York City. She can be reached at lois@peltzinternational.com.
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