Create Perfect Storm in Rare Rug Market

Oakland, Calif. -- Internationally-recognized antique rug expert Jan David Winitz today said that "a perfect storm" of conditions exists in 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, 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 on 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 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, such as handmade area rugs,silk rugs,persian rugs,oriental rugs,wool rugs etc. 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."

"There appears to have been a significant amount of investment money on the sidelines," Winitz said. "The Collection, with its extensive inventory of top 19th century carpets, has allowed our clients to diversify as well as enjoy their investments." He added that antique rugs always have been of major appeal during times of economic insecurity and inflation.