Antique bargains in Buenos Aires

Brian Day

If you collect antiques or just love fine old objects, Buenos Aires

is one huge, magical estate sale. The world’s ninth largest city

encompasses 75 square miles around a core called the District

Federal. Buenos Aires today is also one of the best kept secrets for

inexpensive, sophisticated urban adventure.

Currency, unlinked from the U.S. dollar in 2002, has dropped from

3.5 Argentine pesos per dollar to about 2.75 per dollar. Regardless,

American greenbacks still wield clout in this lively, cultured

metropolis once called the “Paris of the South.”

Buenos Aires was an immensely rich and powerful immigrant

destination in the 19th and 20th centuries. Wealthy families imported

high-end furniture, clothing, decorative objects, jewelry and more by

the boatload from Europe. Argentina’s on-again, off-again economic

woes have forced many portenos, or people of the port, to sell

cherished family heirlooms. There’s a flood of beautiful old items

available, and bargains are routine if you know where to shop.

The San Telmo district has a famous open-air Sunday antique fair

at Plaza Dorrego and many surrounding stores are crammed with unusual

old merchandise. The fair is fun, but prices are high and the tiny

square crowded. Browse the outdoor stalls and enjoy the street

performers, but you’ll need to explore the city for better deals.

Defensa Street bisects Plaza Dorrego and, away from the tourist

fair, prices drop. San Telmo is rich with historical architecture and

some majestic, cavernous old buildings are subdivided into

collectives. Many shops have specialties: dolls, French furniture,

old toys, vintage linens, brass and bronze decorative hardware,

posters, period lighting fixtures, ornate picture frames and antique

clocks.

Art Nouveau and Art Deco abounds. I saw beautiful WMF sterling and

plate vases, trays, boxes and mirrors. There’s art glass by top-notch

makers -- Daum Nancy, Galle, Loetz, Sabino, Lalique and more.

Victorian jewelry is readily available too. As old families vacate

their enormous apartments, good 18th and 19th century furniture often

comes to market for the first time in generations.

Fascinating stories abound. A hundred years ago, prominent local

families ordering from the city’s best florists got their

arrangements delivered in “free” hand-blown Galle cameo vases. The

flowers have long since crumbled to dust, but the vases can be worth

thousands of dollars.

Buenos Aires is sprawling and quite dense, and luckily, cheap cabs

are abundant. There are extensive bus and subway systems, but for a

couple of dollars, the yellow-topped taxis will take you virtually

anywhere.

After a day of hard bargaining, cafe society beckons. One of the

oldest is Cafe Tortoni, where swoony tango singer Maria Volante holds

audiences enthralled Thursday evenings. At Cafe La Biela in Recoleta,

the rich, powerful and famous crowd table-hops under faded photos of

vintage racing cars and brave drivers from the past.

Nightlife bubbles and swirls everywhere; the chic crowd dines at

11 p.m. or later. There’s haute cuisine in the swanky Recoleta and

trendy Palermo Viejo areas and simple but delicious fare at working

class San Telmo cafes. Prices are right: $7 U.S. buys a thick,

flavorful steak dinner of grass-fed beef with side dishes, a

half-liter of decent local wine, dessert and coffee.

Getting your treasures home can be straightforward. Small items

should be carefully packed in bubble wrap and hand-carried or checked

in luggage. U.S. Customs allows $800 free of duty, but I brought back

even more with no problems.

Prices can be so compelling that it’s often worth the extra cost

-- and wait -- for a special find. If you fall in love with a massive

Gothic Revival sideboard or other large piece of antique furniture,

accommodating dealers will crate and ship in their monthly container

loads. Most containers go by freighter to Miami and then truck to

other U.S. destinations. Dealers handle local paperwork, including

customs and export forms, but you’ll have to take care of the U.S.

side. For a small surcharge, some dealers will also ship items you

find yourself.

International buyers are omnipresent in Buenos Aires since the

latest currency devaluation, but bargains can be found with a little

investigation. For such a large, sophisticated city, Buenos Aires

offers a compelling melange of value, culture, night life, food and

fun.

* BRIAN DAY is a Corona del Mar resident.

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