Big Ben tower clock

Anyone who has ever seen the Big Ben tower clock and has not been impressed is probably blind or severely jaded. The Big Ben clock is one of the most impressive architectural marvels in the entire world. You can hear the Big Ben clocks chime from almost all over London, and the elaborate mechanism keeps almost perfect time. I have never been a big fan of souvenirs, but when I saw the clock Big Ben, I knew I had to have a replica of it myself. I wanted to get a Big Ben alarm clock that preserved the majesty of the original. Unfortunately, that was harder to find than I had hoped.

Big Ben souvenir clocks, like Statue of Liberty souvenirs, are generally mass manufactured and cheaply made. If you want to get a big Ben clock that looks good, you will have to search for it far and wide. When I was looking to buy a Big Ben clock, I went to practically every souvenir store in London before I found the one that I liked. A long time ago, every region offered its own unique products, but nowadays, souvenirs are more or less the same the world over. Realism in the Big Ben clock was not stressed any more than in any of the other models of famous places that I had seen. Almost every Big Ben clock that I found was in the wrong color, and most of them were not well proportioned either. Either the Big Ben clocks were too tall or too squat and fat. Either they were made of cheaply molded plastic with a seam where they were cast, or else they were made of gold-plated steel, and looked nothing like the original.

I actually finally found my Big Ben clock at a little curio store in the middle of nowhere. It was not one of those souvenir shops that look the same everywhere, but instead was an outfit that specialized in handmade crafts and antiques. I had actually given up my search for a Big Ben clock when I found their model in the back. It was ceramic and, as far as I could tell, perfectly proportioned. It was an analog alarm clock, controlled by dials on the bottom, but it was good enough to actually be a display piece. I thought that it looked quite sharp, and they gave me a good price on it.

Antique dealers

Although I have attended my share of antique auctions, it is not my favorite way to buy collectibles. You see, at an antique auction the crowd is too rowdy, the room is too crowded, and you have to make a decision too quickly. This is why antique auctions make money – people are used to making snap decisions, and often are conned into paying more than a product is worth. I would rather go to an antique store any day of the week. At antique stores, you see, You get a more personal experience. You can actually talk to the antique dealers at your leisure. You can look at all the wares an antique dealer has, find out where they're from, ask any questions that you have, and in short, make a slow informed decision. People who like to make snap judgments do great at auctions, but give me a good antique book store any day of the week.

The problem with antique dealers is that it can be really difficult to find out where the best prices are. At antique auctions, the price is determined by the crowd. You can figure out what people are buying, what people value, and what things are worth. With antique dealers, however, you are more or less at the mercy of the shopkeeper. Unless you are a true expert on antiques, it is a risky business to buy something from an antique dealer. This is why you have to understand what reasons you are buying for, and get the necessary guarantees.

For example, if you go to antique dealers purely for the pleasure of their wares, don't worry about it. As long as you're not buying antiques that are too pricey, you should pay what you think they are worth because of their appearance. If, on the other hand, you go to antique dealers to make a valuable investment, you should probably bring an expert along with you. Many antique dealers will agree to hold a particular item for you for a day or two. If you can find an antique appraiser, they can come in and take a look and tell you what it is worth. Alternately, there are some antique associations that certify antique dealers. If an antiques dealer is honest, they will get a good rating. Although this method is not reliable one hundred percent of the time, it is better than any other system I have come across.

Antique Door Knob Collections

There are people who collect all sorts of thing. From dolls to bottle caps, there is a collection for nearly every personality. Some people even get all worked up over the old knobs on doors, and have started collections out of antique door knobs. We're not sure how this collection happened. Maybe is started when an old door was going to be thrown out and there was a nostalgic moment, and the knob was kept as a memory. Then that knob called out for more knobs, and a collecting frenzy was underway.

No matter the reason for them, antique door knob collections are very popular, and can be very expensive. Some antique door knob collectors are very serious about their trade. They know all there is to know about antique door knobs. If you think a door knob is a door knob, you're dead wrong.

In the last century antique door knobs have gone through a number of personality and design changes. Instead of just being something used to open and close a door, door knobs back then were just as much a part of the house as the rest of the décor, and were expected to make a statement. For a while the job was relegated mostly to glass artists who created beautiful bubble glass knobs, lead crystal cut into jewel-like shapes, as well as amazing pieces of brass that were carved into extremely ornate patterns.

As time went on, styles of knobs came and went, and it was only in more modern times that the door knobs we used seemed to become a bit more boring, and just looked at as things that are meant to open a door.

It's possible the boring state of today's door knobs is what caused many hardware manufacturers to go back in time and start lines of pieces that are reproductions of those fascinating antique door knobs. Those reproductions have become a major income for those companies as people continually look for new ways to dress up their home.

But the real money seems to be in the door knobs that were really from that time. Just as much as the other collectibles and antiques in old estates can get a pretty penny at auction, the antique door knobs in those homes are also commanding top dollar at estate sales and auctions.

Here's a little interesting antique door knob history: During World War II, many people pulled the brass doorknobs from their homes to help the government in their collections of brass to make war goods. Having one of these brass goodies today can fetch a pretty penny at an auction.

How much would you pay for antique door knobs? How about $8,300 for just one knob? That's the price that the 'Doggie knob' fetched at an auction. The beautifully carved bronze knob with a pooch looking through the center was created in the late 1800s. There are believed to be only two of them in existence.

Unique Taste Of Antique Wines

The collection of antiques are a passion that has been around for decades. There are many collectors who look for rare and valuable items, creating their own miniature galleries, libraries, or museums in their homes.

There are many reasons why antique collectors have a fondness for the art. On one end, vintage items are usually artistic and beautiful, so there is an aesthetic appeal to this hobby. For others, it is a mark of wealth and affluence, as certain extremely rare and valuable items can only be obtained from specialty collectors and require vast amounts of time, money, and effort to locate.

Then of course there is the practical approach of the resale value of vintage items. With proper care and maintenance, antiques can fetch huge sums of money from other collectors willing to buy them. The best part about vintage items is that, properly maintained, their value only appreciates over time.

One type of antique collection that can be considered a time-honored art, right alongside stamp collection and vase collection, is the collection of antique wine bottles. This hobby evokes images of earlier times and a past era where nobility had their own collection of rare fine wines in their cellars, bringing out their best vintages to entertain only their most honored guests.

The collection of wine bottles today is not quite restricted to the nobility as such. More and more people have gotten into the craft of setting up small wine cellars in their homes, ranging from tiny racks running behind home-made bars, to larger staggered racks housed in their basements.

The best thing about this hobby is that wine's taste and quality also appreciates with the passage of time, so this increases the value of even recently bottled wines. Some collectors specialize in speculative wine collections, focusing their purchases not on established vintage labels, but rather on modern wines which are much easier to locate and purchase.

The reason for this is that they can then wait a few years for the currents in the wine markets to shift, and once those labels they've purchased are no longer in production, they can, after a few more years, be considered vintage labels which will drive up their monetary value considerably.

The more traditional collectors scoff at this approach, tending instead to acquiring rare wines from the past centuries. These people will admittedly wind up spending far more for their purchases than those who collect recently produced labels, but the rewards are far more satisfying as well. Aside from the affluence that comes with such a purchase, there is also the fact that these items are so difficult to find that even reselling one bottle of them can bring in thousands of dollars.

Beside the financial aspects of reselling old items, this hobby can educate you with new information about wine. You can build impressive collection of wine bottles, that can turn any event with your family or friend to a big happy party. Remember keeping the most valuable bottles for special occasion or special moment that it be worth it.