How much is my antique clock worth ?

April 29, 2015 - PRLog -- How much is my antique clock worth ?

An oft asked question and one dependant on a number of factors such as age, rarity value, condition, style, does the clock have a ‘Name’ ie was it made by a respected maker, all of these things are not necessarily easily assessed by the uninitiated, Furthermore ‘worth means different things to different people, sentimental value can mean a whole lot more to one individual than the same items ‘worth’ to a dealer who is simply moving it on.

So firstly one must consider the purpose behind the appraisal of the items value, if for instance you have inherited  your clock from a family estate and wish to keep the item, you may wish to acquire a valuation for insurance purposes, the value would then be derived from the cost of replacement in good working order and provenance from a reputable antique clock dealer. This point about provenance, or in other words guaranteed authenticity is important here because in the antique world authenticity is all important as regards the ‘value’ of an item, simply replacing a clock with one that looks very similar but in actual fact is a reproduction made in China or India ten years ago is a pitfall all too easy to fall into, so it is very important to bear this in mind.

If you have the feeling that your new clock may be valuable , things to look out for that may lead you to that conclusion are such things as a makers name or label, most quality clocks will have a makers mark stamped on the mechanism backplate, if you find one try an online search for the mark , this often helpful and is a good place to start. This information alone will most likely give you the origin of the mechanism, as far as antique clocks are concerned they are mostly French German or English. Other pointers to look out for particularly with regard to carriage clocks is the quality of the glasses used, a good quality carriage clock will always have thick bevelled glasses with the emphasis on thick , you will very rarely find a quality carriage clock with thin glass unless it has been rather unsympathetically replaced. As regards quality mantel clocks they too will use thick dial glass bevelled at the edge and fine quality woods such as Mahogany, Rosewood and Walnuts are often used in the construction of the case.

If you find a combination of these factors it is probably worth taking the clock to an experienced dealer, he will be able to advise as to important parameters such as age and rarity value or not as the case may be, and which expert to take it to you may well ask ? well firstly you really do not want to be taking your clock just down the road to your local antique shop because he is there to make a profit and he will only offer you a fraction of its true value. What you are looking for is an independent assessment, an online search for your local BHI membership could be useful, or failing that if you have a reputable auction house nearby a visit to them may be productive, good auction houses will always have an inhouse expert on clocks and it is there own interest to get the very best price for each item they sell so if your clock is valuable they should be able to tell you quite accurately what is is worth. Whether you go ahead and let them sell the clock for you or not goes back to the point of exactly why you want a valuation in the first place, but bear in mind auction house sale charges can be considerable, they will have a basic sale charge that may range from 15% to as much as 30% or more, on top of that there will be catalogue photography charges and if the sale is over the internet that is sometimes subject to charge, maybe 2-3%, other charges that may be incurred are items such as insurance of item whilst it is in the auction house and possibly a shipping charge. Selling through an auction house can be a bit of a lottery, you may do really well and maybe not, most houses will let you put a ‘reserve ‘ on the item which simply means that you can agree beforehand with the auctioneer a minimum price that you are prepared to sell the item for, and if that minimum value is not reached then you are obliged to sell.

If your primary motivation is to sell your antique clock there are of course other avenues open to you, first to come to mind would be via the internet, either through an online classified ad or maybe online auction. A quick online search will bring up a whole host of online ad sites, some charge to host your item and some don’t, but all have same drawback if you are going to show the clock in your own home which not everyone is comfortable with and that is the security issue of having to invite into your house a complete stranger(s). You can of course try to avoid this by providing sufficient information via your advert in the form of photographs to convince potential customers to proceed with a purchase without actually seeing the item in the flesh but this is usually a difficult one to pull off especially if large amounts of money are involved. Ebay of course comes into this category, and may be a slightly better option in as much as it offers the purchaser some peace of mind when spending a large amount of money in that if the item is not as described in the advert then the will be able to successfully claim their money back even if the item is damaged in the post ( you can of course define local pick up only in the advert if you are comfortable with that). There are of course charges involved with the use of Ebay, 10% of the final sale value and if you use Paypal for the transaction they will also take a small cut.

Then finally there is of course your local antiques dealer, they will probably offer you the least of all the methods of selling your clock, they would have to bear in mind the likely cost of cleaning and renovating the item and the likely slow turn around on their sales shelf.

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