Industry data

Miller’s Is it Genuine? How to collect antiques with confidence General Editor John Bly, published by Miller’s. ISBN 1840006234 £19.99

Versatility and a clear career path lead the way: The future of the art and antiques business is centred on small teams with an ability to perform a wide range of tasks beyond their own area of expertise.

THE continuing fall in equities and the threat of war in Iraq have supported the gold price, say precious metal dealers Michael Bloomstein of Brighton.

PARIS: The knock-on effects of auction reform mean it’s all change for the new season: France’s traditional auction scene has undergone a major overhaul, with commissaires-priseurs retaining their monopoly for court-order sales only, and obliged to create new commercial entities if they wish to stage other auctions.

FINANCIAL services giant Zurich have just published figures showing art and antiques to be one of the most lucrative investments against the backdrop of falling stock markets.

SOTHEBY’S chief executive Bill Ruprecht is bullish about the company’s second quarter performance, reporting a 25 per cent increase in net income on the same period last year.

THE price of gold has been extremely volatile, with a five per cent swing in only four days.

eBay have reported a record $266.3m turnover for the second quarter of the year ending June 30, a 47 per cent increase on the same period last year. Of this, $235.3m came from online transactions.

Sales by members of the Paris Compagnie des Commissaires-Priseurs (i.e. all Paris auctioneers bar Christie’s and Sotheby’s) fell 15 per cent in the first half of 2002 to €290m (£187m), as compared to the first six months of 2001.

THE first industry-wide survey of the secondhand jewellery market puts the value of trade at several hundred million pounds a year.

FOLLOWING a high of over £220 per troy ounce in mid-June, the market price has steadily declined to plateau at a nominal £202 per ounce, report Michael Bloomstein (Precious metals) of Brighton.

THE value of the UK’s international trade in art and antiques rose for the fifth year running during 2001. Total exports were down by 4.75 per cent to £1884m, but this was more than matched by a 13.5 per cent rise in total imports which were valued at £1623m.

Tension in the East and distrust in the West have combined to force up gold prices.The steady increase in the value of gold over the past two weeks is due to “a combination of factors,” according to jeweller and precious metals dealer Michael Bloomstein.

eBay sellers dealing in collectables are getting lower prices and having fewer successful auctions than a year ago, according to a study by AuctionBytes.com. The results were similar to those found in a separate analysis by TIAS.com.

SOTHEBY’S results for the first quarter of 2002 show a 20 per cent drop in revenues – no great surprise following September 11 and smaller London Impressionist and Contemporary sales.

Miller’s Collectables Price Guide 2002/3, published by Miller’s. ISBN 1840005432 £17.99 hb

The British Antique Dealers’ Association’s annual survey of its 388 members shows that, despite economic jitters, their aggregate turnover rose from £727m in 2000 to an estimated £782m last year.

CHRISTIE’S led worldwide auction sales in 2001, with a total of £1.242bn compared to Sotheby’s £1.14bn for the same period.

THE new survey of the European art market commissioned by The European Fine Art Federation makes for grim reading.

FRANCE: Auction turnover in France, for sales by commissaires-priseurs, rose 4.4 per cent in 2001 to €1.9bn (£1.17bn). There were significant regional increases in Lyon & the South-East (up 14 per cent to £180m, with Lyon itself contributing over one-third of that figure) and Brittany-Anjou (up 17 per cent to £102m), whereas Normandy suffered a dip of 19 per cent with sales of £86m.