The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I recently met a man who is a collector of various antique mechanical things, phonographs included. I asked him if he had ever heard of a make called "Crystola" and he told me he had a couple of them and would consider selling. Its a normal looking cabinet save for the horn which is made of mirrored glass. I was curious if anyone knew a fair price to offer for one. Thanks!

deghi wrote:I recently met a man who is a collector of various antique mechanical things, phonographs included. I asked him if he had ever heard of a make called "Crystola" and he told me he had a couple of them and would consider selling. Its a normal looking cabinet save for the horn which is made of mirrored glass. I was curious if anyone knew a fair price to offer for one. Thanks!

The way the market is now, assuming its mint condition with no missing parts $200 tops.

of all the various makes of antique phonographs out there (the vast majority being far more commonly known than the crystola), you just happened to ask that collector whether he knew of crystolas and he happened to have two for sale?

Thanks for the replies everyone! I asked him about it because I like how the horn looks on the Crystola and we were having the conversation in an antique phonograph shop. He seemed knowledgeable about odd makes. Just wouldnt give me a price and wanted me to offer.

Guest wrote:Thanks for the replies everyone! I asked him about it because I like how the horn looks on the Crystola and we were having the conversation in an antique phonograph shop. He seemed knowledgeable about odd makes. Just wouldnt give me a price and wanted me to offer.

ugh... I hate it when they do that. if it's for sale, it has a price. otherwise, it's basically as if he's asking you to persuade him with a decent enough offer to sell something he's not ready to sell.

Sometimes the seller has no idea of value though too and wants you to "school" him or her. I would offer
$100 in that situation assuming I was in the market for one. This is only if no parts are missing. Imagine
trying to find parts for a Crystola. Not an easy task.

There was one on Ebay for at least a year- it was missing the grille but otherwise good & priced in the low hundreds- it didn't sell. Aside from the glass horn they're nothing spectacular. They seem to turn up now and then, I suspect they sold well someplace in the midwest and are starting to come out of attics.

BTW- there seem to be two varieties. One has the horn made of individual cut pieces, the other has a one piece cast glass horn.

Finding mehanical and sound reproduction parts wouldn't be much of a problem -- Crystolas use generic parts.

Finding mehanical and sound reproduction parts wouldn't be much of a problem -- Crystolas use generic parts.