Little and Large Flog It: Trade Secrets

I want to share some of the knowledge we have picked up

over the last 11 years of filming "Flog It!".

'That's hundreds of programmes under our belt and many

'thousands of your antiques and collectibles

'sold under the hammer.'

I don't believe it.

Hammer's gone down. Well done!

-That was pure quality.

-I can't believe it.

There's a whole world of trade secrets out there, for you to know.

Often on the show, we encounter items that are intriguing

because of their size.

'And size DOES matter.

'So on today's programme, we're going to be looking at the small,

'but perfectly-formed objects, that you've brought us.'

'Coming up on Trade Secrets:

'Mark has a few tiny words of advice...'

There's always people who like fun -

cats dressed as burglars, dogs dressed as policeman.

That all adds value.

'Small treasures provoke a huge reaction...'

They're just ugly, horrible little devils.

'..and Anita has a little joke...'

-Take a guess. I do it all the time.

-About £200.

-You're not bad at this!

-SHE LAUGHS

'..and a big result!'

£450. Thank you.

That's unbelievable, isn't it?

It's sometimes easy to overlook small things.

Not just jewels and gems, but tiny works that show off exquisite

craftsmanship, like these wonderful chess pieces in front of me.

We see it time and time again at our "Flog It!" valuation days.

These small objects require a second look, a closer study.

They frequently pack a punch when we sell them in the auction room.

Here's our experts' advice on what tiny objects

punch well above their weight.

In this business, what you don't want is ordinary.

You either want things very, very big or very, very small.

Miniature is always good and, in a way, miniature is probably

better than very big, because more people can house miniature things.

Simple, isn't it? You can put small things in small houses.

Things like miniature globes and pocket items,

scientific instruments, such as sun dials,

are very rare and sought after.

You can get a Moorcroft dawn vase that size that'll make £2,000.

Then you can get a rare miniature that'll make the same.

Large items have the wow factor, but miniature items

have the "Aww" factor.

Maybe they bring out the maternal instinct in us.

I'll let YOU decide if Philip's maternal instincts kicked in

when he came across a pair of sporty little treasures,

brought in by John to our valuation day in Hartlepool.

A friend bought them from a charity shop

and they've been in their cupboard for a while.

-How much did they pay for those?

-20p.

-20p?! Each or for the two?

-For the two.

-Do you want to double your money?

-Yeah.

-40p.

-HE LAUGHS

Sports memorabilia is hugely sought after.

If you're a racing nut, you collect horse racing memorabilia,

football nut - footballing memorabilia.

'But there are loads of cricket nuts who collect cricketing memorabilia.'

I think these are great, actually, cos this is the 1956 Ashes series.

When you were a 12-year-old boy,

your dad would have hoiked you off to Lord's, Edgbaston, Trent Bridge,

or The Oval and you would have had a day out watching the cricket.

As part of that day out,

he would have taken you to the little shop and you would

have bought a miniature bat with facsimile signatures on it. And that's all those were.

This is the Crusader Five-Star Extra Special.

This is the Keith Miller autograph bat.

We talk about Freddy Flintoff and the Ashes winning side,

but here we've got

Peter May, Trevor Bailey, Godfrey Evans, Colin Cowdrey, Tom Graveney.

They were the great names of our era, names that my generation

grew up with hero-worshipping,

so there's going to always be a demand for those.

We'll estimate them at £15-£30 the two.

We'll fix a reserve at £10 the two.

Now, that doesn't seem a great deal of profit, really,

but if you work out percentage terms on 20p, it'd do, wouldn't it?

Oh, yeah.

-Your friend going to be pleased?

-She'll be pleased, yeah.

So, were the bidders bowled over on auction day?

I've got two commissioned bids...

-Oooh!

-Oooh!

-..and I must start it at £28.

-Get in there.

-Yes, sporting memorabilia.

55, 60...

-65, 70...

-I didn't expect this.

80... £80 on the stairs.

-Anybody else?

-Hit for six.

Are we all done at 80?

-Oh, £80.

-How much did you give for those?

-20p.

Get in there, eh?

They made £80 with just facsimile signatures on them.

Imagine what they would have made

if they had the real signatures on them?

You really would have been cooking on gas, then.

It just goes to show that the tiniest souvenir

has a sporting chance at auction.

Memorabilia with a signature can be a real winner.

James was in triumphant mood

when he came across an item that was a little out of the ordinary

at a "Flog It!" valuation day in Northampton.

Tiny things do hit above their weight.

Diana's little needle case was a super example

of something that was beautifully carved.

-Diana, what a sweet lot. Are you a dog lover?

-Yes.

Great little thing.

'The dog is one of many animals that is sought after. There are cat'

collectors, owl collectors, monkey collectors,

horse collectors. Anything equestrian - again, very good.

That very sweet little thing comes into two sections.

I don't know if you know, but it's a needle case or a pin case.

This was made around 1850 or 1860, I should think. Something like that.

It's made in ivory.

'The person that carved that would probably have been

'trained by a specialist ivory carver.'

They would have spent their entire life

trained to carve that material.

The eyes at each end are made in glass.

You've got a greyhound's head at that end

and probably a spaniel, or working dog of some form, at that end.

But just look at that expression. Isn't he brilliant?

It really is a fun thing.

I always say to people, "Buy the best you can afford."

It is much better to buy one object that is the VERY best,

than buy ten also-rans.

-It's only a little thing and ivory isn't really that PC...

-I know.

..but it's been around a long time and the elephant is long gone.

-I think that's going to make £50-60.

-Really? Oh, right!

Did that tiny piece of precise

craftsmanship make a big impression when it went under the hammer?

I have four commissioned bids,

and I can start at £110.

140 on my left, 150 on the right.

160, 170, 180,

190, 200, 210? No.

Exactly 200, on the left. At £200. All done?

Yes! 200 quid!

-That's fantastic.

-That's feelgood factor, wasn't it?

Thank you.

That little needle case was a classic example of something

that appealed to more than one market.

You had the obvious sewing collector,

but you also had the dog collector, as well.

And don't forget, there is always a market for miniatures.

As always, quality is key, so look out for items that display

the level of exquisite craftsmanship we saw with the needle case.

When Rob brought this next lot to our valuation day at

Folkestone, Mark discovered that the smallest thing can rock your world.

Oh, this little pocket globe was a real beautiful object.

Catherine Southon would have loved to have done this item.

What a nice little globe you've brought in to show us today.

Basically, this is a pocket-sized globe.

Globes are popular, whether they're miniature or full-sized.

There's just something about that scientific element to it.

We all want to know.

And if you think, we were in the beginnings of understanding

continents we didn't know existed.

Looking round it, we've got all the countries that we recognise now,

but the fascinating thing about these old globes is that

a lot of the countries have changed names.

One key thing to me said it was 18th century -

the fact that Australia was called New Holland.

I think this is probably towards the end of the 18th century,

just before it became a British protectorate, if you like.

-Yes...

-These are now very collectable.

-Are they?

Who would have had something like that?

-I immediately think of a seaman or something like that...

-Oh, no, no.

I think this would have been a part of the middle classes.

I could just imagine the person who owned it, who would have been

so proud to get it out and say,

"Look, I've got the latest map of the planet."

The only shame about it is, I've looked

and I can't find a maker's name, which is a bit of a shame,

cos sometimes the makers' names can make a big difference

-to the value of these things.

-Of course.

It would have had either a little, hard leather case or a little

shagreen case, sharkskin case, original.

Sadly, this particular globe wasn't complete.

It didn't have its little outer case and there was no maker's name.

That could have added another £400 or £500 to the price.

It's very important.

I would probably advise you to put...

How shall we say this? ..a come-and-get-me estimate...

-Right, yes, I know what you mean.

-So, put a tempting estimate on it.

-I would probably put 200-300 on it.

-Good heavens.

-Blimey.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Does that please you?

-That's amazing, yeah.

It really is, yeah. I'd never have thought that.

Rob was in for an even bigger surprise at auction.

500.

520...

-Good heavens...

-540...

560...

580... 600...

I can't believe the grandchildren rolled it around the lounge floor.

-Back in at 600.

-Yes.

-620.

-Oh, it's up again.

-Fresh legs.

No?

£620, then, it is, in the room.

-Are we all done?

-This is great.

Heavens.

Yes!

-That's more like it.

-Thank you very much.

-Not bad.

Brilliant. It found its right level.

That little globe's size didn't prevent it from hitting the big time

at auction, but it does underline the importance of the maker's name.

If the globe had one, Rob's profits could have gone sky-high.

Would Anita see rich pickings in an assortment of petite porcelain?

Sue, what a lovely little collection of miniatures here.

People like miniatures, because they are charmed,

they can be astonished by the scale.

It's an interesting collection.

Whoever bought them in the first place was interested in quality.

People love collecting.

If you collect large items, you're not going to have very much room

but to collect small items, put them all together, it looks lovely.

They can be in a little cabinet, you can pick them up and play with them.

People are always charmed and drawn to small items.

These two here are little Worcester miniature cups.

We have this one here, Blush Ivory.

They're both dating from round about the beginning,

or the turn, of the century.

This one, perhaps, a little earlier, but Worcester, isn't it beautiful?

Lovely silky feel of Worcester.

There's a softness about it, which is delicious

and I just love handling Worcester. It's such a pleasure.

Here we have two little Doulton ones.

Three Dutch guys eyeing up a Dutch bird.

There is something terribly appealing about things in miniature.

My mum used to say, "Good things come in wee bundles."

She was quite a small woman, just like me.

The collectors will love this little, double-handled cup.

I reckon that's maybe one of the best pieces here.

Again, the little jug is similar in pattern to this one.

Again, this little double-handled cup, a little bit earlier.

Pricewise, what do you think? Take a guess, I do it all the time.

Well, about £200.

You're not bad at this!

I think, probably, I think you're probably right.

I would estimate it between £200 and £300.

Let's see if the titchy tea things brewed up a profit

when they went up for sale.

At 320...

350, 380, 400, and 20.

My bid at 420.

Lost the room, my bid at 420,

are you all done?

50 if you wish. 450, back in.

480, sir?

The lady's bid at £450.

-A last look around the saleroom at 450.

-Thank you

-Wow!

-Unbelievable, isn't it?

When everything is distilled down into that miniature,

we see the best of work.

So examine it closely.

Get out your magnifying glass, if you want.

Examine it closely, look at the detail and fall in love with it.

Never underestimate the draw of miniature items.

They're instantly appealing because the skill and craftsmanship

of their construction is all the more impressive.

Skilful craftsmanship can produce the quirky, as well as the cute,

as Mark discovered with a devilishly-tantalising collection.

Cold-painted bronze items are always collectable,

but the devils stole the show for me.

I love these, though I know you don't like them, Anna.

They are just ugly, horrible, little devils.

-Where have they come from?

-My mother chose them from her uncle's estate.

She always... They always fascinated her as a child, I think.

They are actually little bronze figures.

They are what we call cold-painted bronze.

They are largely made in Austria.

Generally, when we refer to cold-painted bronze,

we're talking about the end of the 19th century.

The bronze has already been cast and, as it says,

decorated while it's cold.

I find them really fascinating.

You know, this lovely one, you know, washing the other one in a tin bath.

Then this one riding a pig.

I think they're absolutely wonderful.

Collectors are looking for quality and, above all, quirkiness.

We all like that word, "quirkiness". Those devils were very quirky.

I think we should put them in at £300-£400, as a little group.

-Would you be happy for us to do that?

-I am!

You're quite determined, Anna, aren't you? Absolutely.

I shall be sad when they go!

My estimate took into account the fact there was a little

bit of damage here and there

and also the fact that some of the figures were rare,

but I also wanted to reflect a private nature of the lot,

to get those bidders raising their hands.

360, 380, 400.

420. Put another 10p in. 420.

I'll come back. 440. 460.

480, 500, will you? And 50, I'll take.

600. 650.

700?

700, will you?

As the price rose and rose, everyone wanted to join in.

We're clear at £900? And 50, anyone like?

DOG BARKS LAUGHTER

Was that a bid?!

At 950 from the dog. 1,000 will you say?

No, at £900 and I sell at £900.

Oh, wait a minute, the telephone's come back in again.

950.

At £950, on the telephone we go.

-Anna, £950.

-I can't... I can't believe. I love them to bits!

What do you mean, you love them to bits? You hated them a minute ago.

-No, I'd love to be rid of them.

-Someone else will enjoy them.

-Yes.

There's always people who like fun

and that's what they were, mainly - fun.

Look out for cold-painted bronze

which represent animals in human form.

You know, cats dressed as burglars, dogs dressed as policeman.

That all adds value.

Anna was clearly thrilled to say goodbye to that quirky, little lot

and hello to a hefty stash of cash.

Maybe the ugly, little devil wasn't your cup of tea

but it does prove that something intriguing, different

and slightly odd will appeal to the right buyer,

especially if the craftsmanship is as fine as that.

What else do you need to know if you're searching out

a little beauty?

Try to find items that appeal to more than one group of collectors.

That way, you instantly increase the interest your piece can attract.

Spend your money on one high-quality item,

rather than several at a lower value.

And, as with collectibles of any size,

a maker's name on smaller items can add to their value at auction.

At 450... Thank you.

THEY GASP

No-one really knows for sure why miniature furniture was made.

We see it from time to time on the show.

Now whether they were made as apprentice pieces,

or examples for travelling salesman to show the client on the road,

or maybe it was just a cabinet maker showing off his skills.

Whatever, I think they are absolutely charming

and Caroline Hawley agrees with me.

This is a miniature child's Windsor chair,

dating from between 1840 and 1880.

It's made of yew wood, ash and elm

and it belonged to my great-great grandfather

and each generation of my family has sat in it

and I have proof here of my brother, Mark, and myself, in it

when I was very much younger than I am now.

I absolutely love it and it's been with me all my life.

It lives, at the moment, in my mother's home and we all love it.

It doesn't get much smaller than the beautifully-crafted pieces

of jewellery that turn up at our valuation days,

which often end up in the hands of expert

Christina Trevanion, who, by her own admission, loves a sparkly trinket.

So she leapt at the chance to visit Hatton Garden in London,

an area that has been at the centre

of Britain's diamond trade for centuries.

To say I love my jewellery is a complete understatement.

I'm in my spiritual home, here in the centre

of London's jewellery industry.

I'm really excited, because I've come to meet Rachel Lichtenstein,

who is a historian and has written about the history of Hatton Garden

and why we associate it so much with the jewellery industry.

So when did Hatton Garden emerge as a hub for the jewellery industry?

There was one very important business that arrived in 1822

and that was Johnson and Matthey.

They were metal assayers and refiners of gold and platinum.

It wasn't really until diamonds arrived in the area,

in the 1870s, that Hatton Garden

really became the centre of the diamond and jewellery quarter,

not just of London, but of the world.

So, in the 1870s, diamonds were discovered in South Africa,

at the Kimberley Mines.

There had never been so many diamonds discovered.

There were two Brits - Cecil Rhodes

and an East London Jew, called Barney Barnato,

and together, they formed the De Beers mining company

and in 1893, De Beers sold their entire production

of rough diamonds to the London Diamond Syndicate.

From that point onwards, you can really track the development

of Hatton Garden becoming the centre of the diamond trade internationally.

By 1910, there were over 200 separate companies

in the street of Hatton Garden alone.

So you've had these 200 companies in Hatton Garden.

What would it have felt like? What would I have seen or heard when I was here?

It was very much a Jewish trade, at that time,

an international trade,

and what you'll find today, deals are still done in that really

old-fashioned way, with a handshake and the Yiddish words,

"Mazl" and "brokhe", which means luck and blessing.

If you go back on a deal, then you're finished in Hatton Garden.

Trust is everything and everyone knows each other.

That's the way it still operates today.

I'm off to have an explore, so thank you so much for talking to me.

-I'm really looking forward to it now.

-Enjoy.

-Thank you. I will!

So many of these businesses around us today have been set up

by European refugees at the turn of the 20th century.

I'm really looking forward to meeting Robert Holt, who, I hear,

at the tender age of 90, is still running his own family business.

So Robert Holt, you came here as a refugee in the 1940s, is that right?

-1939.

-1939.

-Just before the world war started, yes.

I understand that your business got going because somebody gave you

a large consignment of gemstones which you could then sell?

What happened was, a man came to see me from Brazil.

He said, "I've got a big problem. The problem is that I have a huge

"consignment of stones that I exported officially to this country.

"There is a vast quantity available. Could I store it with you?

"And would you try and sell it?

"If you do sell it, would you send me the money?"

I felt I had to learn something more about it.

I took a course in gemology and geology and I was quite successful.

From nothing, you've built up this wonderful business

and now, it's still in the family?

It is, yes, and I'm very proud that it is.

The bedrock of Hatton Garden's colourful past is lapidary -

the incredibly specialised art of cutting,

polishing and engraving precious stones.

Christina caught up with Robert's son, Jason Holt, to find out more.

I would say lapidary is about unlocking the true beauty of a stone.

Take this stone, for example.

If you saw this on your drive, you wouldn't think twice about it.

It's a piece of nothing, it's a stone. But this is a garnet.

This, you would not think is red.

Once you start polishing and cutting it,

you can create that true colour that's within it.

How do you decide which cut to create from this?

You would take something like this, you would see where the colour is,

where the greatest clarity... Clarity comes into it.

There are lots of inclusions, lots of cracks inside.

You want to avoid that and have as clean a stone as possible.

-The cleaner the stone, the more sparkly it will be.

-The better?

You'd want to start what we called "pre-forming".

You'd want to take the stone and decide what shape do you want it.

The next stage is then to take it to the grinder, where you really

go to the next stage of getting much closer to the end shape.

Then the final is adding the facets.

The art of the lapidary creates the brilliance, creates the lustre,

creates that, "Wow, that looks alive!"

# I put a spell on you... #

Faceting is the technique of cutting different faces,

or facets, into a stone.

# Cos you're mine! #

Improvements in technology have propelled

the art of faceting to ever-more sophisticated heights,

producing stones of increasing brilliance along the way.

We've got an array of antique items on the table here.

How would it be different for a lapidary who cut these stones

to a lapidary who cut modern items like this?

-If we take these, what we call, rose cuts.

-Mmm.

There are far fewer facets and if you look at the facets,

they're not, I would say, perfectly in line.

They are slightly asymmetrical.

How would they have cut these, would it have been by hand, or by machine?

It would have been by hand. It wouldn't have been a motor,

-it would have been a wheel turned through a pedal.

-Mmm.

As we move along to this beautiful Art Deco brooch, 1930s,

where you see the sapphires and the diamonds,

each sapphire would have been meticulously cut

to fit into that design.

That's incredibly minute. What if you got it wrong?

Well, you would have to start again.

It has to be said, many of the techniques that would have

made that beautiful brooch are used today for the very best stones.

You want to be using your eye. You want to be using your head.

When do you start seeing the introduction of computers

and lasers and it being much more of a mass-produced industry?

I would say in the '80s and '90s.

You'll see these are black diamonds.

-All perfectly set.

-All very, very uniform.

-All uniform.

Same size, same cut.

This, I would imagine, would have been cut by laser

and by computer, by machine.

So it's become an incredibly sophisticated industry, hasn't it?

Very sophisticated, very exciting

and so, what we are now finding is that they can create

looks of gems that they couldn't in the 1900s and the Victorian times.

As we go along, the precision of stones is far greater.

If you see a square-cut stone, or lots and lots of facets,

it's usually indicative that it's made in recent times.

My top tip for buying jewellery, and especially buying antique jewellery,

is get yourself one of these.

This is a jeweller's loop and ten times magnification

and get used to using it, as well.

The more you handle, the more you look through, the more you'll learn.

Secondly, using your jeweller's loop, or sometimes your eye,

antique jewellery, by its very nature, shows signs of wear,

which is great for identifying antique pieces,

but also, there's a fine balance between spotting an antique piece

and having too much wear, where it becomes devalued.

If you look at the stones within a piece of jewellery

and they're totally 100% symmetrical, I would suggest

that you're looking at a relatively modern cut, computer cut, stone.

Fundamentally, I would say

if you're looking for a piece of jewellery to wear yourself,

the rulebook goes out of the window and buy with your heart.

'As Christina showed us,

'if you want to buy or sell miniature objects,

'look carefully for finely-fashioned quality workmanship,

'like those beautiful gems.

'You could be sitting on a winner.'

-Yes, that's more like it.

-Well done! Thank you very much.

-£620...

And please, join me again soon for more Trade Secrets.

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