Please consider donating to help offset our high running costs.
Thanks for all the replies! I have 3 omegas now from thrift stores. I also just snagged this auto winder for $20! It works nicely.
I mean the omega is of course the top find that movement looked amazingly clean but I’d love to find a watch winder at a thrift store. Never had one I’d love to find a working one just to see if it’s something I’d like to have. Looks like a decent one you picked up although I know nothing about them. You had a great day thrifting.
Watch winders are for me the kind of thing I would never consider buying new or even shopping for, but would probably buy in a flash if I came across one in a thrift store.
i search for many things. I get lots of great jewelry. Original art (one I bought for $15 and sold at auction for $27000!) pottery and anything else that catches my eye. I re sell most of it.
Thrift shopping can be great. Do you go for other stuff or just watches?
I'll go for clothes and I always check CDs. Sometimes I discover new good music by buying random CDs. The South African band Freshly Ground comes to mind.
Back in the late 90s I used to buy Commodore 64 computers for a few bucks. I also got an Atari 2600 that way.
i search for many things. I get lots of great jewelry. Original art (one I bought for $15 and sold at auction for $27000!) pottery and anything else that catches my eye. I re sell most of it.
You can't just casually mention this and not tell any more?!? Pictures and stories, NOW!
Ha ha, OK. I wasn't sure making a post about that was outside of the scope of this forum and would break any rules.
It was in December 2020 and I was at a thrift store that I frequent about every two weeks. I was flipping through the art when I found a piece that caught my eye. I knew it was old and art deco style and had great color. It was a print (not a traditional art print that was a copy of an original work but a print called a Lino cut)that was signed and numbered by the artist.
It was $15 and I couldn't pass it up. I got home and cleaned up the glass as it was quite dirty and was able to see the signature and the title of the print. Once I posted that information I realized what it was. Turned out it was a print by a very well-known Canadian artist who is considered one of the top print makers from Canada from the 1930's. Her name is Sybil Andrews and the piece is titled "Water Jump". After doing more research I found a local fine art auction house (Heffel.com) who has dealt with her work in the past. It was a Sunday when I sent them the email and was told it would take 4 to 5 days for a return response. 9 AM the next morning my phone rang and it was the auction house. They were excited about the piece and wanted to see it. I brought it in later that day and they confirmed it's authenticity and I consigned it to them for auction. it went to auction in January and the final hammer price was $27,500 plus buyers premium. After my fees that netted me a cheque for $24,500.
This has been my best find to date! Still gets me excited when I think about it.