Posted by Chris on 17/12/2024
We reflect on why antiques are such a wonderful Christmas gift, both to your loved one - and yourself.
Read on for a Christmas message from Antiques.co.uk's founder, Iain Brunt.
With Christmas now very much upon us, you may be thinking of a very last minute Christmas gift – or you may be reading this with some money to treat yourself following the big day.
Whilst the shops are closing down for at least part of the Christmas period, at Antiques.co.uk we’re open 24 hours a day, seven days a week – every single day of the year – from wherever you are in the world.
And like Santa’s elves, our Antiques.co.uk sellers are also hard at work, listing more and more items to our website – you can see the latest items for sale.
We often say that the past makes a great present, and there couldn’t be a better time for that to ring true than Christmas, a holiday evoking echoes and spirits of the past. Many of us reach for that sense of history and belonging, of tradition and feeling, at this time of year – and all of those resonate so deeply with the spirit and tradition of antiques.
With buying antiques for Christmas (or post-Christmas) gifts, comes the connection that deep down, we all search for.
Antique and vintage pieces allow our minds a journey of imagination: how many hands have touched and used this item? Who were the people who owned and loved it? How much joy has it brought to them over the years?
The fact that you’ll never have an answer to this question leads us to build a story in our heads of who might have been, and connections unseen.
Whether or not a specific antique is a good investment or not becomes immaterial at this time of year (although with careful research, they can be).
We buy to give joy, to show someone (or yourself) that you really care, that you’ve made an extra effort to think about them and get them something that is unique.
If the person you’re buying for is keen to avoid modern electronics, or something that has a short lifespan – plastics made in China for example – then antiques give them an added layer of enjoyment. The carbon cost of an item has already been paid off generations ago (and you can also subtract the carbon footprint of an as-new item not purchased in its place).
Of course, there is always going to be a need for modern, new items: footwear for example, items of clothing, mattresses, personal care. You couldn’t get antique perfume that would still be usable.
But for the most part, antiques can furnish an entire home and give even a new-build property a transformative sense of charm and feeling.
Size is not important – an expensive antique settee doesn’t necessarily bring more joy than a miniature portrait or antique jewellery. It’s all about meaning, and how the recipient of the gift will cherish it.
If you’re reading this, you’re probably already of the mind that antiques are fantastic gifts – and we agree! As an antiques website, we’re biased of course.
We're open day and night, 365 days a year
So when you’re wondering what to do with yourself between Christmas and New Year, no matter what time of day or night, open up your browser and take a look at what’s new on our latest items – be the first to see them before anyone else does. You never know what's going to be there (and neither do we).
From Antiques.co.uk’s founder, Iain, and all of the team, we wish you a very happy Christmas and a joyous New Year.
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