Thursday 11 March 2010

Trainspotters - vintage and salvage shop


If you've been reading this blog since the beginning, you'll probably know about my industrial/school clock obsession (read about it here, here, here and here). I just came across another source of beautiful vintage industrial clocks. Amusingly named Trainspotters is an architectural salvage and vintage furnishings dealer, specialising in 20th century industrial items and curiosities. I would seriously recommend having a gander over on the website for some stunning furniture, great architectural salvage and some eye-poppingly beautiful posters. It's mostly completely out of my price range, but it never hurts to dream! Here are a few things that caught my eye:

(image above) The first thing I spotted was this giant, copper-cased, 54" diameter, 1920s station clock, which is £8750 +vat. OoOuuuuucchhh! What a monster!


For more a more affordable and much smaller clock, you could choose one of these Czech factory clocks - £165 +vat for a 13" clock.


From Freemason's Hall in London, you can have one of these monumental Art Deco hall stands for £3800 +vat each. Double ouch!


I love the industrial feel of this 1950s steel medicine cabinet, £850 +vat. I like to mix very old furniture with new and mid-century stuff - I think it stops an old house from looking dowdy and adds a quirky, eclectic edge to the decor. It's too easy and a bit boring just to buy a load of antique brown furniture to furnish a period house.

2 comments:

  1. Great blog! :)

    I too love the 54" railway clock and am ready to confess my own fetish for all things vintage.

    I can't help but think, however, that somewhere in Eastern Europe there are a bunch of people scratching their heads at the local railway station while staring at a blank wall where their beloved clock used to be, wondering who in the world would ever take such a relic. Is there such a thing as 'fair trade' for vintage/antique items, I wonder?

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  2. :-) Thank you! I'm so pleased you like it.

    The clock is seriously amazing - and yeah, I think you're probably right about people wondering where their beautiful clock has gone. I just wonder how on earth the shops come across stuff like that and why someone out in Eastern Europe would have sold them such a thing - I suppose the money that a clock like that can fetch is the motivation in selling it. It's a shame in many ways that they are losing important items like this to the frivolous British antiques market. Fair trade antiques? That sounds like a nice idea :-)

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