KEY POINTS:
Next time you're in the local op shop with a wallet full of coins, looking for a fabulous bargain, be sure to poke around in that box
with all the old wires and mobile phone chargers. Because, believe it or not, the old "bricks" - as the
first mobile phones were known - are about to become sought-after relics of another age.
Well, that's if all the experts Viva consulted on the subject of future
collectibles are correct. Besides advising hoarders, op-shoppers and collectors to be on the lookout for costume jewellery and monster cars, experts in the field of collectibles also suggest that your old mobile phone might be worth a lot of money in the future.
Read on to find out what you should be collecting now in order to reap dividends - either in street cred or, hopefully, cash - in the future.
MARC KNOTT
Owner of Mixt in Kingsland and of Vintage Styles in Ponsonby, where they sell retro furniture and collectibles alongside contemporary New Zealand gifts and design.
Technology-based items
Why? Because technology moves so fast and some items become obsolete almost immediately after production. For example, I think that because of our disposable culture one of the first iPods in the original packaging could almost be a rare collectible now!
Another example in the technology field is the trend for wealthy IT people to pay high prices for some of the early computers and gaming consoles. This is also an example of collecting being driven by nostalgia, as a lot of the successful IT executives were teenagers in the 1980s when computers started to go mainstream.
Those cumbersome cellphones from the 1980s are already fetching quite high prices too.
Art Deco
What's deemed collectible is often cyclic. When I started in the secondhand business, art deco items were fashionable and sought after and there were numerous shops around Auckland catering to that demand. But then deco was overtaken by the retro style and mid-century modernism. However I think it's probably due for a comeback - especially if New Zealand follows international trends. In fact, the demand for good deco pieces is so high overseas that there are specialist shops selling contemporary reproductions of classic deco items.
1970s Formica
I think this is on the cusp of becoming collectible, in the sense that it is still out of fashion in New Zealand, so alot of it goes to the tip or into studentflats. Seventies formica represents aclassic look from this time and I thinkwe'll see a bit of a revival thatembraces its kitsch qualities.
HAMISH CONEY
Managing director of contemporary art auction house, Art & Auction.
Old mobile phones
I think tapping into the technology zeitgeist will be important and the
trend to collect retro gadgets seems to be gathering pace. What
I'd call "modern relics" will become increasingly sought after,
as what was once cutting edge is superseded.
Mobile phones are one example. As they continue to change and turn into handheld multimedia devices, the early designs will become ever stranger
with a curious Star Wars-era design appeal.
The Motorola brick is the pick, but other brands such as Uniden, NEC and Nokia have also produced models which have retro futurist appeal. Check out eBay.com if you want to see the nascent collector market in development.
Gas guzzling 1960s and 1970s muscle cars
Petrolheads won't go down without a fight - even if it costs $300 to fill the tank! These seven- litre behemoths are technological
dinosaurs, but as the open road becomes a more expensive place
to be, the attraction of a Holden Monaro or a Valiant Charger is
growing. In the United States, AC Cobras, Buick Rivieras, Pontiac
GTOs and Plymouth Roadrunners are rocketing in value and in
Australia, these Mad Max era beasts now sell for hundreds of
thousands of dollars.
Digital video art
Art you can watch on your TV is the new frontier and I can see a day,
not too far away, when we will have a pay-per-view art channel.
Artists to watch in New Zealand are Jae Hoon Lee, Sriwhana Spong,
Lisa Reihana, Daniel Crooks, Phil Dadson and a whole new generation of tech-savvy artists for whom film and video is the new lingua franca.
New Zealand design
Collectors are now zeroing in on New Zealand modernist and contemporary furniture and design. Original modern design by the likes of Charles and Ray Eames, Finn Juhl and Le Corbusier has long been in demand. Finding an original is the key, as the area is littered with fakes and terrible copies.
Which is part of the reason New Zealand-based collectors are now
seeking out authentic vintage design from the likes of Garth Chester, John Crichton and more modern designers such as David Trubridge and Humphrey Ikin. Do the right thing - buy Kiwi-made!
TV-themed die cast toys
Little boys never seem to grow up which explains why Dinky and Corgi toys from the 1960s and 1970s are in high demand by collectors. Toys related to Batman, James Bond, the Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 now sell for small fortunes if they have all they working parts intact.
Fashion
Vintage garments by famous international designers now fetch
huge sums and I can see the same happening here. Kiwi designers
have long had strong links to art trends - in 2005 Zambesi held a
stunning 25-year retrospective. I don't pretend to be a fashion expert but if I was, I'd be laying down a cellar of Karen Walker, Nom*D,
Zambesi, World, Workshop, Hailwood, Kate Sylvester and Miss Crabb classics today.
NEIL CAMPBELL
Managing director at Webb's auctions in Auckland.
Design-art
In the future the traditional delineation between fine art and design will be less relevant. Successful art often reflects a strong design element within the artist's practice, just as good design is a result of both a technical and artistic process.
David Trubridge is a great example of this - where design and art are
inseparable. The people who collect his work appreciate the story in the work, the vision of the author - in this case, Trubridge - and the skill of the team that manufacture the designs. This chemistry of creation is what makes the resulting work rare.
We are also seeing growing interest in industrial design. By this I mean things with great scale. Giant clocks with big cogs, huge curiosities - basically giant Meccano sets for men. Motorcycle design is a good example of this - Webb's recently offered 24 important motorcycles and all sold incredibly well, attracting both local and international interest.
Art jewellery
Jewellery is another strong area of collecting for the future. For many
years New Zealand has fostered an appreciation for the art of jewellery
making and we now have two generations of jewellery makers who are known, in certain circles, by name. Think of Fingers [the central Auckland store that's been selling contemporary jewellery for several decades now]. Twenty or 30 years ago that certainly wasn't the case but now we basically have artists whose practice is in jewellery.
The design and creative process is very similar to art and these are
lovely objects which have a real integrity. At Webb's the jewellery
department consistently attracts collectors, especially in recent months where money invested in gold is quite literally better than money in the bank!
Wine
Wine is also an interesting one. Most of Webb's top end collectors are
seeking out the finest European wines and these have a very mature
secondary market. In New Zealand we're seeing the beginning of this kind of investment in the best of New Zealand vintages. And as our wine
industry evolves, so too will people's ability to buy highly collectable, locally produced wines which will increase both in quality and value over time. Fine whisky is another area of collecting that is developing, although mostly in single malts.
Decorative arts
People of one generation have been fascinated by retro and mid-century
design. I think the next generation is going to swing back to more
decorative and elaborate sorts of furniture and interiors. And by this I
mean anything from the 1700s through to 19th century antiques, anything that's brown and curly - because the emos and the gothics love that stuff!
GILL WARD
Owner of Victorian Gilt, the long standing boutique for collectible
and antique clothing in Remuera.
50s vintage clothing
Clothing from this period has doubled in price over the last year. The Victoria & Albert Museum held a retrospective of designer label fashion from the 1940s to 1950s last year and put out a book, and the Brighton Museum held a similar show. The combination of these two high-profile museum shows has resulted in a new interest in clothing of this era.
I would advise anyone to buy the best they can afford and look for
labels such as Jean Allen, Frank Usher, Mary Quant or anything sold by the two big London department stores, Harrods or Selfridges. You should note that items must be in good condition if you're interested in their investment potential.
Vintage costume jewellery
This can come from any decade from the 20s to the 60s. It was often beautifully made as many jewellers from Europe fled from the world wars and ended up in the United States and Britain. Because of a lack of high end clients, their skills were employed in making costume jewellery that was as well designed and hand-set as the real thing.
There are many names to look out for - like Trifari, Vendorme and Weiss - but there are also some excellent unmarked pieces. Look for quality, weight and hand claw setting for the pastes.
Vintage beads
This is another item that has doubled in value over the past couple of years. And here I mean the foil beads from Venice and the former Czechoslovakia, not the horrible clunky ones from India. Also the beautiful and stylish Czechoslovakian necklaces with their ornate metalwork from the 20s and 30s. The craftsmanship in these pieces is often superb with the backs of the pieces being as finely worked as the front.
Tribal jewellery
Lately I have been buying modern turquoise beads from Afghanistan, Iran and Arizona. Tribal jewellery is now very scarce and expensive. I'm also trying to buy genuine turquoise and silver beads, as so much now is dyed stone coming from cheap manufacturers in countries like China.
Vintage handbags
Good quality handbags from the turn of the century until the 1950s are also becoming very collectible. The 50s were an era of opulence after the restrictions of the war, so everything tended to be in flamboyant style and made with quality materials.
