Buying Tips: Caveat Emptor!
Dangers for collectors
to watch out for on the secondary market include the following:
- Counterfeits -
-
Have bogus marks that are the wrong color (a sort
of purplish blue instead of the vivid cobalt of the genuine backstamp)
and that have strange curlicues where things like the ® mark over
the "o" in "Lladró" should be.
- Seconds -
- All porcelain factories make them - even Meissen did!
Lladró's are distinguished by the scraping off of the Spanish
bellflower logo on the mark that should appear centered above the
name (see photo). Value is substantially affected by a missing
logo flower. Perfectly good items sold through Lladró outlets in New
York state and Williamsburg, Virginia also have the logo scraped off.
Serious collectors avoid these.
This 1989 Christmas bell
is difficult to find and
commands strong prices on the secondary market. Not this particular
example, though - not with that scraped off bell-flower logo that should
appear centered above the name. (Photo by the author.)
- Rare "prototypic" items -
- Things that never went into production
and are usually one of a kind samples sometimes sold at the factory. This
is the one exception to the rule when it comes to the missing logo
flower because it's also missing on prototypes! Unlike the seconds and outlet purchases, these are considered highly
desirable and very valuable, but it does take some time and experience
to be able to tell a prototype from a second - or from items that actually
did go into production, but in another Lladró brand called
NAO. (See Items Known to Have Been Produced Under Both
Marks).
- Damaged items -
- Unless the item is old and very difficult to find,
these are not a good investment. Places to watch for damage include
delicate projecting parts such as flowerwork and hands and fingers on human models.
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