Hello from Australia

Hello to everyone, from sunny Australia (the big sandy thing below China).

Where to begin?

I'm in my 20s. I've been collecting antiques for years. I've had a long fascination with history and antiquities and have amassed a modest but impressive collection during my years of active searching and accumulating.

I am a certified history buff and antiques nut. It is an incurable malady which I shall surely die of, in decades to come.

I'm a member of one or two history forums, but it wasn't until now that I was able to find a forum dedicated specifically to antiques. So...here I am. Hello!

I hope that while I'm here I'll be able to share my stuff, gain new insights on it, get insights on other stuff and see what other amazing treasures there are around here.

And...that's all.

Shangas.

 

Welcome, Shangas! You'll find us an eclectic group here - all ages, all interests, several countries (US, Canada, and UK mostly, but I believe we have a smattering of Europeans as well) and all levels of experience, too.

We love seeing each other's finds and helping solve those pesky "whatsit" questions!

 

Hi BakersGMA Hi Peter.

I searched long and hard to find a place like this. Honestly I saw a LOT of antiques forums, but they're all hideously specific. Bottles. Watches. Clocks. Fans. Cars. Books.

I wanted one which was more general. That's when I found this place. Looks like it fits the bill.

To establish my antiquing credentials, here's some stuff which is extremely special to me. NEVER will I sell these. And I would accept no price in the world for them. Ever. The only way you get them from me is when you dig up my coffin and pry them out of my cold, dead, rotting hands.

...anyway...here they are:










I have a fair few antiques which I consider valuable, but these are without a doubt, the most valuable.

 

Is that a choker? Silver? Marked? Looks South American, but then I've never seen an Australian jewelry.

Pretty!

 

Welcome ! Is that a watch fob ? both pieces are gorgeous !

 

Not a choker. But yes, it is silver. It has no hallmarks, but I've done research and I've tested it, and it is solid silver.

What you're looking at here is something extremely rare, old and very precious to me.

I inherited these two solid silver Peranakan nyonya belts when my grandmother died in 2011.

They're family heirlooms passed down through four generations.

The big one originally belonged to my great-grandmother. And the skinny one was my grandmother's.

The first belt is from ca. 1890-1920. The second belt is ca. 1930.

They were manufactured by Peranakan (also called 'Straits Chinese') jewelers in the British Straits Settlements (Malaya and Singapore) back during the heyday of the British Empire. These things are beyond rare. I've only seen a few examples online, and all the other examples I've seen are in museums.

The only way you own these things is if you're lucky enough to buy one, or if like me, you were lucky enough to have inherited them from a relative.

These things are irreplaceable to me.

When gran died, I had no idea that she had anything like this. Then a few years back I went to Malaya for a family wedding. To kill time, my father took me to the local Peranakan museums all around Malaya and Singapore. And he pointed to this belt, in a museum (I took a picture of it):



...and he goes:

"Y'know, grandma has a belt just like that one".

I was dumbstruck, simply because they're so rare, and we have so few heirlooms in our family! (And certainly nothing of value).

I asked him how he knew this. He said when the old family home was abandoned in the 1970s or 80s, my aunt took all the old junk from the house before it was demolished. And among them were gran's two silver belts. He visited my aunt, weedled the belts out of her hands (she didn't want them anyway), and brought them home to Australia.

I begged my dad for a year before he finally agreed to give them to me!

 

Hi Shangas,
Welcome to the best of the best of the forums. Most all of us were on ebays discussion boards before they killed them. I am sure you will be a help to the group as well as us to you. Loving antiques we end up learning a lot of history at the same time.
greg

 

What a wonderful story ! What treasures !

 

How wonderful!

I too have a number of "precious" items passed down through the family, which fueled an interest in "old things" that has continued through most of my life. It's a great way to catch the "antiques bug."

 

Thanks folks

Yes, they mean a lot to me.

Oh, and Johnny, these are my pocket-watches:



I stopped collecting these because they're so damn expensive! Most of these I want to sell at some point, someday...in the future, possibly, maybe. I dunno. But they's cute!!

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

By the way, folks. While I have your attention, I wanted to ask...

Is this place purely just for asking for help? Or are we allowed to share photos and stories and information about stuff from our collections in the various boards as well?

 

Middle one,bottom row ! Love it.

 

LOL!! You're the fourth person who's said that since I started showing these online today!!

The middle-bottom is a TACY ("TAvannes-CYma") "Admiral" dress pocketwatch, from the 1920s. Gold-filled. 15j. Serviced recently. It's petite, but everyone LOVES IT!

I admit I was attracted to it because it's just so cute and intricate.

 

G'day Mate & Welcome.

Post what you feel , there's no restrictions on helping , asking, showing off your stuff, or posting funny pics of you and kangaroos !!!

 

OK thanks!! Then I'll start sharing things around.

 

Welcome aboard Shangas,love all your"eye candy"....YES..We love to hear stories and history on finds,hoards and the like.

 

Thanks Shiloh, that's very gratifying to hear!

 

Your most welcome

 

I kind of glanced through the posts. Many of us are refugees from Ebay. They made changes to the forums and allowed trolls. Thanks to Peter, we have a warm and cozy place to share our interests. Sometimes we go off-topic and there's no one with a whip hand to march us back into line, so we get goofy. Welcome aboard.

 

Thanks Bev.

Oh, and there's a dedicated thread to my grandmother's belts in the Jewelry board if anyone wants to read more about them.