The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

A French friend just sent me some results from the last Chartres sale

Edison Triumph with nice red straight horn - 850
Peter Pan alarm Clock - 800
Stollwerck - 1900 (there was another with original cardboard box and a few records for about 1000 more)
2 Lioret Dolls - 2000 & 2900 (one had original case)

Other small Pathé's were real cheap - flip over model 1 with hunting horn - 180
6 huge Pathé 50 cm records were 500, so around 84 each

What is the Chartres sale and is it held often? I am assuming it is in the same town as Chartres Cathedral?

Yes, it's in the same city than the cathedral.
This auction includes automates, music boxes, gramophones and phonographs and occurs around twice a year (in winter and end of May).
In general, they sale nice machines but I succeeded to attend the auction just once...

Thanks for the information.... I have been to Chartres, but never realized that there was a phonograph sale there. I would love to go back sometime and maybe can schedule a trip that coincides with the show/auction...

Curt A wrote:Thanks for the information.... I have been to Chartres, but never realized that there was a phonograph sale there. I would love to go back sometime and maybe can schedule a trip that coincides with the show/auction...

That sounds like a fantastic phono trip idea.

There is certainly some mystique to that place. Quite often the prices are on the floor due to it being a non-internet, cash only, pay on the day, in person type of sale.

Just watch Ebay now for some of those items to magically reappear for their first "proper auction" airing.

Steve wrote:There is certainly some mystique to that place. Quite often the prices are on the floor due to it being a non-internet, cash only, pay on the day, in person type of sale.

Just watch Ebay now for some of those items to magically reappear for their first "proper auction" airing.

The quality of their auctions is highly variable from year to year. Some years ago they sold a collection of hundreds of machines that belonged to a single individual, and there were many bargains to pick. This year the only lot that looked interesting to me was the one with half a dozen 50cm pathés mentioned above, but that was not enough to drag me to Chartres. That said, they manage to maintain a sizeable annual sales of gramophones, which unfortunately is dwindling in the other two regular auctions that feature sound machines in Europe (Brekker in Germany and SAS in England).