The joy of finding bargains at Brocante | CHICHI PARIS ~Blog of an esthetician living in Paris~ | Paris | madame FIGARO.jp (Figaro Japon)

There was a brocanto in my neighborhood over the weekend, but the weather got worse in the afternoon, and when I arrived, the wind was so strong that I thought I was being blown away. Every time the wind blew, the tents were knocked over, and about half the shops had already closed and started to load trucks, but luckily the crockery and cutlery shop we were aiming for was still open.

Brokanto is not only old but also unused. All the glasses in this store are brand new and are still on sale, so the brocanto price is a bargain.

At Brocanto, silver cutlery is a must. I like looking at past models that are no longer manufactured and looking for bargains♪

There are many types, from famous Maisons like Christofle to nameless ones, and there are many fakes, so it is necessary to distinguish them carefully. Even with the same silver plating, the price and value will differ depending on the silver content, and the price will be higher if it is made of pure silver. "Christofle" seems to be popular, and every store has a higher price for Christofle than others, or sells it in bulk, such as "full set of 48 bottles".

When I started living in France 20 years ago, I bought a dinner set for 12 people at a Christofle boutique with the feeling of jumping out of the clear water. increase. As I have been living in France for a long time, I have come to know that there are other long-established maisons besides Christofle. Recently, whenever I go to Brocante, I am looking for silver cutlery from "Puy Forquat" that I cannot afford at the regular price. However, I haven't come across anything in good condition yet, probably because the absolute number is small.

Everything here is Christofle.

When buying silver cutlery at Brocante, there are four points that I always pay attention to: (1) a long-established French maison, (2) model, (3) condition, and (4) whether or not it contains initials.

① is a product of a long-established French maison like Christofle and Puy Forcat. In addition to the name of the maison, there are usually two stamps to prove the silver and the stamp of the workshop. (2) We do not choose models that have already been discontinued so that we can buy more later. (3) The item must be new or clean without damage. Even if it's cheap, it's no good if it has stains, fine scratches, and a feeling of use. As for the last item (4), until a long time ago, it was common to engrave initials on the back side of the cutlery handle, but I don't like using items that have other people's initials engraved on them, so I excluded those with initials.

As an aside, the French table setting puts cutlery such as knives and forks on the back to show the initials as shown in the picture.

In the 30 euro section of a store, I happened to look at the back of a sauce container that caught my eye. It had "Ercuis" stamped on it in silver, and it was clean and unblemished. If you buy an Hercuy sauce jar at a boutique, it should cost at least 800 euros...

I thought it might just be the 30 euro corner, so when I checked the price with Monsieur at the store, he said, "Wow, it's 30 euros."

I wondered if it was a fake, so I checked the stamp again, but it looked genuine and had a lot of weight to it. Just in case, when I asked the madam of the store about the price, she said, "That's why it's 30 euros. I won't negotiate the price." I gave it out and got it.

Later, the same model was priced at €190 at another store, so maybe I misunderstood the price? I was lucky though☆

The next day, I took it to an acquaintance who specializes in silver products and had it examined. He said If you have it polished by a specialized machine, it will become shiny and look like a new one.

This is why Brocanto is so interesting that I can't stop)^o^(