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October 24, 2007
Increasingly Savvy Clients and Decreasing Availability Combine with Internet To Create Perfect Storm in Rare Rug Market
International Expert Predicts Escalating Trend among Collectors
OAKLAND,
CA — Author and antique oriental rug expert, Jan David Winitz today
said that "a perfect storm" of conditions exists in the market for the
finest antique Oriental carpets.
"Frankly,
the rapidly increasing scarcity of great 19th-century rugs," he said,
"combined with our clientele's escalating knowledge and the ability to
view and purchase one-in-the-world, investment-level rugs on our
website have created a unique confluence of factors during my nearly 30
years in the business."
Winitz,
president and founder of Claremont Rug Company, said that his clients
are increasingly willing to invest in "collectible to museum-level rugs
that are both rare works of art and still in the superb condition that
they can be used in the owner's residences."
Winitz
is the head of an investment group that has employed an international
team of expert buyers for the past 27 years. They continually purchase
entire private collections and fine estates to fuel the voracious
appetite of the clients at his two galleries and have assembled the
extensive Claremont inventory, described by the Financial Times of
London as "art for the floor."
He
says, "Potential clients, who have been drawn to great antique rugs
over the last three decades, often come to him with a seasoned eye and
a great hunger in drought-like conditions in the international market."
He
added, "Many clients continue to purchase spectacular pieces, more than
they could possibly display in their homes, and either ask us to store
them or are putting them into private museums. We often revolve
clients' rugs over periods of time at one or more of their residences."
The
author of "The Guide to Purchasing an Oriental Rug," Winitz predicts
that the bull market conditions in the rare rug market will continue.
"Our clients soon discover that the quality of carpets we consistently
offer is virtually never found elsewhere, and when they occasionally do
appear at auction, they often sell for prices that exceed the
established market value. Seeing this, their confidence that the rarity
and value of their collections will continue to increase substantially
grows.
"The 100 to 200 year-old
rugs in our collection can never be duplicated. They were created at
time when the artistic sensitivity of the weavers and their
craftsmanship were unmatched," he said. "In that sense, rug collectors
view their pieces in the manner that a collector of paintings views a
Monet or Van Gogh."
The
rugs in Claremont's collection sell in the range of $25,000 to more
than $500,000 per piece. Individual transactions with collectors,
Winitz says, sometimes reach $2 million. "Additionally, the market for
rugs of this quality does not fluctuate depending on external economic
conditions," he said. "The intrinsic value of this kind of art and its
'one-of-a-kind quality' separates it from other kinds of investments."
Claremont
Rug Company's world-class collection of antique Oriental rugs has
attracted clients from around the globe since its inception in 1980.
Claremont's rugs are extraordinarily beautiful home furnishings and
solid art investments.
The Company
(www.claremontrug.com) specializes in the finest oriental carpets -
rare antique and vintage art rugs, oversize and palace-size Persian
carpets, and antique tribal and village and court rugs. It operates two
locations, in Oakland and Berkeley, CA.
Also
see:
FINANCIAL TIMES - "Treasures You Purchase to Hold on to" (3/29/08)
Download printable version 
MARKET WATCH / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL - "Global Leap in Best Antique Rugs as Major Works of Art " (7/14/08)
Download printable version
MARKET WATCH / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL - "Domestic and International Connoisseurs Embrace Antique Rug Sales Event in “Next Frontier of Art Investing” " (6/2/08)
Download printable version
THE MERCURY NEWS - "Rare rugs" (5/30/08)
Download printable version
YAHOO FINANCE - "Claremont Rug Company Announces Additional Hudson River Valley Collection " (4/30/08)
Download printable version
REUTERS.COM - "Claremont Rug Company Holds Globally Significant Exhibition… Rare, 19th Century Caucasus Rugs" (12/17/07)
Download printable version
FORBES.COM - "Claremont Rug Company Acquires “Mother Lode” Collection of 19th Century Art Carpets" (2/12/08)
Download printable version
MORNINGSTAR.COM - "Demand for Antique Carpets and Rugs Expands While Availability is Reduced" (9/16/07)
Download printable version
WORTH MAGAZINE - "Masterpieces Underfoot "
Download printable version
CALIFORNIA CEO - "Putting
Out the Red Carpet: The Claremont Rug Company has woven a close
relationship with its customers thanks to a wise use of the Web."
Download printable version
CIO Magazine
- "Carpetbaggers: The Claremont Rug Co., purveyor of antique carpets
made centuries ago by Southwest Asian nomads, has benefited doubly from
the great leap forward to the Internet."
FINANCIAL TIMES - "How
To Spend It: East bay passions. The sit-ins are long since over, says
Holly Finn, but Berkeley has plenty to shout about...The Claremont Rug
Company - one of the world's best sources of antique carpets - is here."
Download printable version
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE - "Art At Your Feet: Antique or copied oriental rugs express their weavers' inspirations"
Download printable version
OAKLAND TRIBUNE - "Web Helps Rug Store Clinch Sales"
BEL AIR ARTICLE - "What Hotel Bel Air (Beverly Hills, CA) says about Claremont Rug" |
