The Second "half price" purchase!!

Well it didn't take too long to aquire the second "half price" corkscrew for my collection. This is only the second piece in my collection that's not British and it's a keeper for me so I must consider it a good piece. This corkscrew is all Steel and very early in date, early 18th century at the latest.

I managed to buy this example for less than £400, which I believe reflects it's current market value. Now 5 years ago the price would have been much higher, I was personally offered an example when travelling in France for nearly double this price and the piece had a broken worm....another sign of a downward trend in prices over recent years??

The proportions and balance of this piece make it beautiful to look at and at the same time very functional. No doubt such a corkscrew would have pulled many corks during it's long life. It's very rare to find such a piece in very good condition, with the point if the worm still sharp and in tact.