CHINCHILLA SECRETS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 62, 6 December 1930, Page 27

CHINCHILLA SECRETS

Rarest Skin in the World

Five hundred business men, representatives of firms in all parts of the world, recently arrived in London with £200,000 to buy fur skins. “The war was. responsible for more skins from Russia and North and South America being sent to London than to Leipzig and St. Louis,” said Mr. Guy Moss, a leading fur expertto a “Sunday Express” interviewer. “The enterprise of British firms is responsible for London’s position being maintained. , ’ ' “Sales in St Louis and Leipzig are attended by buyers from near-by countries, but the London sales attract purchasers front all parts of the globe. . The Government of Peru announced three years ago a ten years’ ‘close season,’ and although a few chinchilla skins are trickling through to the market, there is no demand owing to the exceedingly high prices now prevailing. ' '' ■ “There are not more than eight new chinchilla coats on sale- in Europe. There is one in London, two in Paris, one in Berlin, and one in Vienna, and three others in other, parts of Europe. These coats are worth anything from £4OOO to £20,000 each.” . Furs worth at least £2,000,000 change hands at, each of the. three sales held In London every year, I was Informed by one of the principal London buyers, members of whose family have been in the .fur .trade without a break since 1600.

“The auctioneers each disposed of about. 120 lots in an hour,”, he said. “The sales last for four to five weeks, and the auctioneers are busy on their rostrums for seven hours:a day; . 1 “At one of the last sales £215 was paid for one sea otter skin and £l5O for a silver fox.”

The lots fetch anything from £1 tb £lOOO. Some of the buyers attend the smaller Sales only to purchase' 'skins* to match others they hold; others to buy a miscellaneous stock. ■ “ '. * * I attended one. of the- sales, and inlngled with the advance party of the five hundred fur-buying pilgrims, .1 could not find one who had visited the

wastes of the frozen north where many of the skins had been found. A few claim to be able to judge quality and value without looking at the fur side of the skins, basing their judgment solely on ■ examination of the tails. : ‘:fl, : ’ ■ , ■

Fur sales now are remarkable for their simplicity, their orderliness, and their lack of excitement. They present a striking contrast to the sales of bygone years, when buyers jostled each other and often came to blows over the value or the order in bidding of a particular lot. There is little noise, lots are hammered in response to shakes of heads; the auctioneer and the buyers put pencils to paper instead of fists to chins. Many of the five hundred buyers, who have authority to spend thousands of pounds, may pass a whole day without bidding for a lot.

A ■ London fur merchant said: “While the market value of a particular. skin may be £l, that one piece of fur is required to match many, others of similar hue to complete an order for a valuable coat. ‘

“Buyers of furs often have to travel hundreds, even thousands of miles before they can obtain a small skin to match others in their possession to satisfy the whim of a wealthy customer. •

"A fur coat may be spoilt by the inclusion of one small skin that does not exactly match in colour. Because of this, and because some women will not wear toats or cloaks that are not perfect, they will pay exorbitant amounts to have the correct article.

“The woman may live as far away as Australia, America, Africa, or India, yet it is to London that the agents of the firms they patronise have to come to find the small single skin at a cost of a pound or two. The cost in obtaining it may amount, in fares and profit charges, to £5O. Many of the’ five hundred buyers will remain in' London until the last of this season’s silver fox furs will be auctioned.:

Froin thart day no 'more will be heard of them until next January, when they will once again appear in L udon, refitted with wallets bulging with bankers’ drafts. '