Paris Fleamarkets

[Gramtastic]

Hi
Going to Paris next week and intend to visit the fleamarkets looking for Phono related items (Probably Pathé!) As there are several fleamarkets there, I wondered if anyone here has been and knows which would be the most likely for our kind of stuff ?
Any suggestions gratefully received !

[Steve]

Be sure to visit Phonogalerie while you are there. You'll see more high quality, rare and pristine machines there than you'll see in a lifetime of checking out fairs, flea markets, auctions, eBay, or most other collectors' collections for that matter!

I'd be very surprised if Phonogalerie hasn't bought up anything likely to be on sale in the streets outside but you never know.

[CarlosV]

I second Steve's recommendation. Chances of finding any authentic gramophone in a Paris flea market are close to zero, although I have frequently stumbled on (overpriced, underquality) Edison phonographs, mostly Gems and Standards. There are some other places in France served by professional dealers, around Chartres, and there your chances would be higher, but nothing near the quality and uniqueness you will find at Phonogalerie - I would however warn you that there is no bargain to be found there, and "discount" is not in the owner's vocabulary. The deal there is more or less the same as with Rafael in Miami's Treasures: top quality for top dollars. Having said that I have bought great machines from both, and paid what I think is their worth. Even if you are not up to spending money, a visit to Phonogalerie will be mandatory for collectors: it is one of the only specialized shops in the world, and certainly the nicest one. Gramophones, phonographs, of all periods and makes, from tinfoil (some great reproductions) to electric, all kinds of records, posters, advertisement props, and some written stuff, reproductions of catalogues etc. There is a custom-made electrical cylinder player, for you to try out before buying and without wearing their surfaces by using a vintage player. Even if you don't buy the coin-op Berliner, you may be tempted by a 1-meter pathé disc for a mere 150-200 euro, rare in France and rarer in the US (not very practical if you have to fly back with it, though), or a pathé rooster, much more imposing than that victor mutt.

[Steve]

150-200 Euro for a 50cm Pathé disc? I think it's more like 300 Euros now? As tempted as I was I sadly had to pass on it at that price.

I've just bought another machine from Phonogalerie myself. Is there a better place specialising in this hobby anywhere in the world? I'm not aware of it anyway. It makes a total mockery of the quality on offer by UK dealers.

[Gramtastic]

Thanks for the information - Phonogalerie is now on the "to do " list !

[CarlosV]

150-200 Euro for a 50cm Pathé disc? I think it's more like 300 Euros now? As tempted as I was I sadly had to pass on it at that price.

I've just bought another machine from Phonogalerie myself. Is there a better place specialising in this hobby anywhere in the world? I'm not aware of it anyway. It makes a total mockery of the quality on offer by UK dealers.

Steve, 150 euros was the price some years ago, I passed at the time, especially because I could not play the content (I bought a pathé concert A since, that came with a nice pair of German 1-meter polkas), but 300 euros is robbery!

French ebay had a couple for sale some months ago, but I also passed as they were extracts of an opera (both were part of would have been an extraordinarily heavy set if indeed all the opera was issued in such beasts), and played in low speed around 50-60 rpm. The disc I have plays at 135 rpm, it takes about one minute for the machine to speed up and stabilize at that velocity, which is the nominal speed the concert A was designed to operate. If I remember well the ebay discs sold for somewhere between 100 and 200 euros apiece.

I don't know of any better shop neither, somewhere else in this forum someone posted photos of a gramophone shop in the US, Las Vegas I believe, and there is one in India that sells more records than gramophones, but that's all that seems to exist.

[Curt A]

Phonogalerie is located in the Pigalle area near Moulin Rouge... definitely worth a visit.

[fonografica]

There is another shop you must not miss. It is a more like a workshop where you can find almost any spare for French machines and the owner, a lady, has the knowledge and savoir-faire of 4 decades in the business.

http://www.phono.org/steger.html

https://youtu.be/23dZb8THgIc

ps, call before going she's not always there!!

regards
tony

[Gramtastic]

Hi all,
Just got back from Pairs. Phono Museum and Phono Gallerie are well worth visiting - the owners are very friendly. Never seen so many good spares for mainly European machines but prices quite steep.
Went to St. Ouen fleamarket which is enormous. Picked up some 12" Pathé discs and a "Disque Aspir" which is quite unusual. Found one over priced portable, one very battered Pathé horn machine (also overpriced) and one dealer with 2 very nice Pathé tin horns painted with flowers but at 350 Euros, out of my range.
Cheers