Pharo and British Isles Collections, Part 2

Continued from..
Pharo and British Isles Collections Part 1

Back in November, 2004 I sent a damaged Longstone, PC 106 to Ceramic Restorations of Westchester, Inc. for repairs. I received the restored piece yesterday--February 15, 2005. I'll let the pictures tell the story. . . .














I've completed the spreadsheet (one 8-1/2 x 14 sheet) and breakdown by number (six 8-1/2 x 11 sheets). Neither the spreadsheet nor the listing will import to this forum correctly (tabs won't import). If anyone wants a copy of either or both pieces, email me to request a mailing address and to let me know which layout you want, and I'll let you know how much to send me to cover postage costs.

Sandy

I linked them together, Sandy!!

Okay, all you experts out there. This is a fantastic job which was done on Sandy's Longstone. If a Harbour Lights piece is restored this well, how will it fare in the secondary market? I don't have one with a major problem, but I know that several HL collectors have had restorations done on their LE's. How will that affect their value in the future?

The reapir is amazing !!
Here just lately everything is valued in "auction values" and those depend on folks noticing repairs ...
But I guess if you tell people there is a repair, the value will drop some.
It would not worry me though. Especially if the piece is repaired THAT well.
Sandy, could you tell me the size of that one please? I am wondering if it is the same as mine.

The repair looks great. It's nice to do a HL rescue on rare pieces so they won't be lost forever. If you don't mind me asking, what did that repair cost?

If you're shopping on the secondary market, do you think every seller is willing to let you know if a piece has been repaired? I find it hard enough to find a seller that accurrately describes the condition of the piece for sale.

Most sellers over-rate their pieces to increase their desirability to a potential buyer. Too many people think all their pieces are "mint in the box", and just because they only displayed it for a year or so it is still worthy of the decription of "never displayed".

I also love the description "from a pet free home". I've got Mr. Mo, aka Cosmo, at home and formerly had Mr. Chippy, aka Chipper. I didn't allow my furry sons to handle or lick my HL's. The HL's were not used as minature fire hydrants by either dog.

Another favorite desription is from a non-smoking home. We are from a non-smoking family and I can appreciate the non-smoking thing. I've purchased HL's on the secondary market and could smell cigarette smoke on the boxes. They air out after awhile. I've never seen a piece that turned yellow from smoking. After all, a person has the freedom of choice to do whatever he or she wants, especially in their own home. Maybe some people blow smoke at their HL's to simulate fog.

Sooner or later you'll purchase a HL on the secondary market that carried a description of MIB, from a non-smoking home, from a pet free home, only taken out of the box for this photo, and never displayed. When is arrives you will notice a microchip or two, and notice the colors are just slightly faded. You then finally realize there's an Andes Mint included in the box that covers the "mint in the box" part of the description, and the rest is history.

Bob

Sandy's Longstone was not produced by Harbour Lights while the Pharos series were...

The Longstone was produced by Harry's dad in England and it isn't made of the same materials like HL's now and they much more prone to breakage.. Just a word of warning the British LL's are also made in this way so handle them with care..

Some early HL's were produced from similar materials and also subject to breakage like the original Hatteras...

Classic! Robert.

Margret,

7-3/4" long x 4-3/4" wide x 6-1/2" high. Covering on bottom of piece is dark gray spongy material. White label imprint:
British Isles Collection
Longstone
Northumberland

Distributed by Harbour Lights
c2000
("c" is copyright emblem)

Bob,

Repair including insured shipping = $160. They warned me at the beginning it could take 10 months (it took 15 months) and any contact between us was initiated by me.

Your humor tickles. . . .

Paul,

Thanks for linking the threads together--much appreciated.

Sandy

Sandy
The Light looks great !!!!!!!

Back in part one of this thread, I repeated a story that I had heard and after talking with Harry Hine recently about it, I must stand corrected.

I said that the British Little Lights were created by John Hine in England without the knowledge or permission of Harbour Lights.

In fact, the pieces were designed by Harry Hine and sculpted by Harbour Lights contract sculptors.

There were two problems that doomed the idea of opening up Great Britain as a market for Harbour Lights.

The first was that the China factories had a minimum order of 500 pieces and HL wasn't willing to have 500 x 12 different pieces produced until they could be sure there was a demand for them -- especially as they were launching the Pharos collection of larger pieces.

So John Hine offered to take the masters and cast them in his shop on an as-needed basis. The materials used (plaster, I believe) didn't stand up well and were subject to breakage.

The second problem came along shortly after the first. The sales group (rep) lined up to handle the line for Great Britain closed their doors shortly after Pharos launched.

And that's what doomed the Pharos, British Isles, and British Little Lights.


Harry believes that John Hine CAST no more than 250 of each of the Little Lights. They were probably only painted when they were sold to a dealer.

This number should be treated as a 'maximum', says Harry. It may be far less that were cast and even less that got to a retailer to be sold.

John Hine offered the remaining pieces to the dealers he did sign up for Pharos and to retailers that he was doing other work for.

Thanks for the update John. Much appreciated.

Sandy

Thanks for the correction, John. If I were the owner of these pieces, I would be very pleased that Harry was, in fact, the designer.

Ahhh ...If they were painted as and when they were needed, that explains why we have two "pairs" where the same lighthouse came out in two differnet colours. (see our page for them )
And I am very glad to hear that Harry was involved!
We are quite happy with our little set! And it seems they are rarer that we thought

Margret, we are finding more and more about these collections - all quite positive. Makes it all very fascinating. Those of you lucky to own these collections have something very special. Loved seeing your little lights!

Margret
Congratulations on having a rare collectable.
If anyone on this forum should have them, it is you,
since they are in your Neck of the Woods.
Have you been to all the lights that are in the British Little Lights collection?

I wish ... no we have not seen anything like all of them.
I have seen Needles, Longships, Beechy Head, Portland Bill, Longstone and Old Lundy ... Hope some day to see the others.

Finally ran across 3 of the Pharos Boxes and confirmed that my set includes:

PC105 Ballincorty 2342
PC107 Bell Rock 2273
PC103 Tryn Du 2271

At least that's what's marked on the boxes.

Guess Randy now wants me to open the Bell Rock and actually verify 2273?

I was photographing my Pharos Collection, getting ready to post it on eBay, and see that the bottom of the Portland Bill has the green suede felt on the bottom; the others all have blue suede felt (like Anchor Bay).

Can those of you with Portland Bill's please let me know if my green bottom one is an oddity?

I don't have to look.
Already know Answer. All the Portland Bills have the green felt
The Portland Bill was manufactured from China.
While the rest came from Malaysia.

The first 2000 American Shoal had blue felt and also manufactured in China. My pet idea is that the blue felt that was intended for Portland Bill was used on American Shoal.
Remember the first 2000 Pharos were originally intended for US. So where did the blue felt go that was to go on the Portland Bill? Maybe it went to the American Shoal.

19 Minutes Response Time. Thanks, Daniel.

By the way Sandy, my Bell Rock is 2275. Box and flag concur. I reported it as 2273 previously.

Thanks, John. Will make certain it's recorded.

Sandy

Thought I'd update the list of the little British Lights I have seen
We added St. Anthony's and - if only from a distance - Bishop Rock!