I.M.CHAIT
How has the Internet affected the world of art, antiques and jewelry? The real question is how has it not?
We can all agree that in the 21st Century, things move at a rate exponentially faster then they did in the past. It becomes commonplace for inventions and innovations to be so ingrained and so part of normal operating bases as to be taken for granted.
One of the most radical and progressive inventions of humankind was the printing press. It probably took one or two hundred years (or even longer) for most of the world to become "matter-of-fact" about printed books. Another such monumental invention, in more recent times, was the World Wide Web and Internet. This is an invention that has radically changed most all of our lives, most all of our businesses and has created the greatest number of opportunities as well as pitfalls for human kind since the invention of fire.
Just last night at the Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles, there was an event celebrating 25 years of the Gem & Mineral Council, a membership group connected with the museum. About 150 people were in attendance who were involved in the buying, selling and collecting of minerals, gems and jewelry. At our table was a world famous jewelry designer and various mineral experts as well as an "old time" miner.
The conversation turned to how things have changed and I boldly proclaimed to all that the Internet has changed completely how gems, minerals and jewels are bought and sold or learned about. What I said literally was that "the Internet" has totally changed the playing field.
There isn't anything you can't find on the Internet. If you want to know how much a pair of 1 carat diamond studs might cost for your wife's birthday, you have hundreds to choose from online. If you want to know about the recent mining of a mineral in Tanzania, all the data is available. If your grandmother passed away and left you an Art Deco platinum and diamond bracelet, you can shop it online. Literally there is hardly anything that can’t be done online that needed to be done in the old days through personal contact in a store, through glossy photographs, and through various and sundry antique shows, etc.
If a client wants to see pictures of a piece of jewelry, your "megapixel high definition camera" will download the image and you can email it and it will arrive in moments. If you are looking to buy that pair of earrings for your wife but want to see the GIA report, it can be scanned and sent to you immediately. If you want a three-dimensional view of the mineral specimen, there are cameras and programs now that can do this rapidly and cheaply. I could go on and on but you all know what I am talking about.
Each and every day, there are millions of items related to antiques, jewelry and gems being sold online and millions and millions of viewers looking. Let’s go one step further. Where are these viewers located? Where are these sellers located? The answer is "anywhere and everywhere" on planet Earth. And even in what you might call "Third World" countries or countries with restrictive governments, there are public Internet cafes. And even where there are now high speed or Wi-Fi connections, there are still modems and on my many travels I have seen people hook their laptops up to their cell phones for dial-up connections. It truly is a World-Wide-Web.
In my own business of antique auctions, our client base has become fully international and you might say, more Web-based than the norm for auctions in the past. Inquiries come from all over the world when people view our online catalogues. With our online bidding platform, we have clients all over Asia, Europe, Canada, South America, Australia, South Africa and even one in a weather station near the North Pole who can sit and relax, with a cup of coffee, in his pajamas, watch the auction and bid just by clicking the mouse.
The most interesting part of all this is that now-a-days we all consider this "the norm."
ISADORE M.CHAIT, owner of the I.M. Chait Gallery in Beverly Hills, has been a dealer of Asian and Fine art for more than forty years, is an appraiser, and auctioneer of Asian and Fine arts.
13 comments:
So true... the internet and my computer have brought the world to my fingertips, it's true. But they're not the end all be all are they? Sometimes you need all those acquired years of experience and knowledge and not just a quick Google search!
Fun story!!
Where would we be without the Internet, computers, or electricity??
Thank you Al Gore!!
I'd give anything for a Cartier bracelet
My computer... and this site, have been extremely helpful in putting the pieces of our family history back together. We were able to find and re-purchase some very precious family heirlooms becasue of it.
I still have a problem pressing the SEND key on a bid for something I haven't seen or held in my hands. That part still scares me. The internet is great but the potential for fraud has gone up exponentially.
I agree that the Internet and technology play a large part in the antiques "game" today but there is still no substitute for hands on inspection and study. I've heard a million horror stories about ebay and the like and we really don't know where we are sending that money when we click on enter do we???
People used to bring things into our store all the time. Now it's "i found one just like it on ebay..." and the guy was asking $20,000 for it. There's still some leveling to be done, even with technology in place.
Hello from Atlanta! We agree that the computer has helped us find and identify new pieces but we have to say that nothing will ever replace the hands-on thrill one gets when our eyes land on something we love and it speaks to us. No computer will ever be able to impart that sense of connection and love! Enjoy the site very much, thanks!!
Thanks agains, JD for that old pocketwatch you brought back to our family. We never would have found you if it wasn't for the Internet and we're glad we did!!
We like your use of technology and have come to rely on it ourselves. One thing to consider is how our connected world might someday be used to find art thieves and others who are making off with antiques at an alarming rate. And, yes, we were just burglarized!! Nice site!
It has made antique hunting and research much easier in a lot of ways but it is also fraught with problems of its own. I would call it a useful tool, nothing more.
Love your site. Thank for you for the photograph of great great grandfather!!!
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