My first find of 2024 isn't actually a corkscrew and it didn't cost me anything. One of my neighbors was nice enough to gift me a few vintage trade catalog pages. Thank you Bill, these are welcome additions to the collection. I have seen these over the years in books and listed on eBay, but I have never owned any until now. If only the prices were still as good as they were back then.
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Once we hit December 1st I started getting emails from fellow collectors showing their best six corkscrews for 2023 and I must admit that I found it a little odd since we had a whole month left to add more corkscrews to our collections for 2023, and possibly a best six contender. Although, from my experience, December is usually a pretty slow time for buying corkscrews. People are on holiday; the auction houses are on holiday, and there usually just isn't much out there. I have yet to finalize my best six for 2023, but will be doing so in the next few days.
I'm excited to report that I managed to acquire a best six contender just before the end of the year. It's a Christmas miracle! Arriving a few days before Christmas was this phenomenal boars tusk corkscrew with mechanical frame and a Sterling silver bear's head with ruby eyes. Stay tuned; my 2023 best six is coming soon as well as the first few corkscrews of 2024 which are sure to end up in next/this year's best six. My parents and I took a little trip to Phoenix over the holidays and I'm happy to report that on this trip I did in fact find and purchase a rare corkscrew at an antique mall. Before I get ahead of myself, the 3 corkscrews on the right were online purchases which were waiting once we got back home. That being said the corkscrew on the left was found in an antique mall in Scottsdale (near Phoenix) and is a fairly rare piece. Its an advertising piece with the advertising stamped into the handle and includes a bottle opener. The advertising is for CONTINENTAL DISTRIBUTING CO ; HY-LITE WINES & LIQUORS. This is the first corkscrew with this design that we've added to the collection. The other corkscrews include a near perfect condition Syroco boxer corkscrew, a tiny faceted/gold-gilt perfume corkscrew, and an ivory tusk corkscrew with a Sterling sliver end cap engraved with the year 1900; a fitting addition for the final corkscrews added to the collection for 2023.
I'm wrapping up my last finds of 2023 and will be posting my best six for 2023 shortly. One of the corkscrews that's been holding me up is pictured below. It's a beautiful ivory tusk with somewhat brutalist Sterling silver staples enlodged into the endcaps. I acquired this corkscrew mid-year on eBay, but I've waited to post about it until now because I usually like to polish and clean the corkscrews before posting and this one was pretty tarnished when I got it. The brutalist staples combined with how tarnished it was made it quite difficult to polish. It's a unique and welcome addition to the collection.
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James ZalaznikI'm constantly adding new corkscrews to my collection. Any new finds as well as articles which may be of interest to corkscrew collectors will be posted here. Archives
October 2024
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