The Art of Investment
“As long as the value of the top violins continue to expand, which we think they will do for quite some time, I think there are going to be growing gaps and areas of opportunity between various makers, various schools that I think are going to be filled in over time. And those are going to represent real opportunities for investment”
[Seth Novatt, Alliance Bernstein Management Director]
“In terms of investment, nothing beats an old violin”. Thus said Ivan Hewett, renowned music journalist for The Daily Telegraph, his enlightening article Auction Where musicians, not financiers, call the tune published in this newspaper on November 7, 2014 with regard to the emerging business of buying and selling old instruments begins. Other assets are likely to increase their market value or depreciate, but not for certain musical instruments considered works of art. So what are the reasons that have hampered the trade openness of this sector? While no one dares to question the advantages of purchasing a Picasso or Manet, the art of lutherie not yet been placed, even in the XXI century, in the crosshairs of art buyers.
To understand the reasons for the ancient musical instruments why still today the best kept secret in the financial world , you first need to consider the history and idiosyncrasies of the luthery : by tradition , the old-fashioned world of manufacturers and sellers instruments has remained alien and tight financial sector , almost inbred thrive through the interaction of conoisseurs that have consolidated since the time of the first Stradivari . Until recently there was only a handful of intermediaries in Europe and America that maintained direct contact with sellers and buyers, but the drift that is experiencing the business is sufficient proof of a fact: internationalization.