Antiques slideshow – a Rotary watch and an abstract painting

Item one: A bottle of Camus La Grande Marque 1872 Grande Fine Champagne Cognac, sent in by Dan Sheperd. This has the branded cork and remains of the red wax capsule. Camus is one of the top Cognac houses and of this age it will be particularly valuable. The level, label and wax capsule are not perfect, which will unfortunately affect the value. But it is still a very collectable bottle. Value: £500-£750 (which is about £20 a sip) Photograph: Dan Sheperd

Item two: Ludwig Snare Drum, sent in by Frank Ludwig Grossman. This item dates from the early 20th century. The Ludwig Company was founded in Chicago in the early 1900s and has become famous for producing high quality instruments. While there is a collectors market for such pieces, it is at a relatively modest level compared to guitars from the classic rock'n'roll period. Value: £60-£80 Photograph: Frank Ludwig Grossman

Item three: An abstract painting by Sergio Vacchi (1925-2007), sent in by Jeri Zulli. Sergio Vacchi was a renowned Italian artist, and this particular piece is signed and dated (1959) in the lower left corner. Vacchi started his artistic career in Bologna in the 1940s, and played a major role in the Italian ‘informal’ movement. He is well represented at auction where his paintings with figurative content achieve the highest results. This is still a very striking piece. Value: £300-£400 Photograph: Jeri Zulli

Item four: A gilt metal and steel wristwatch by Rotary, sent in by Ian Williams. This was given to the present owner by his father, who received it from his grandfather. The watch has an attractively designed dial which, stylistically, dates to the mid-1960s, thus leading our expert to think the watch would almost certainly have been new when it was given to Ian’s father. Its value is £20-£30, which is modest, but unless watches are in gold or platinum values remain low
Photograph: Ian Williams

Item five: A Continental silver spoon, sent in by Steve Johnson. This probably comes from Hanau and was made circa-1900. The fig shaped bowl is embossed with a lady standing beside a tree. The spoon has a barley-twist handle with a figure of Hermes. Interestingly, the marks on the spoon are not genuine hallmarks but have been added by the manufacturer in imitation of older marks. The unregulated Hanau silversmiths were a prime source of these pseudo marks and many of them use a fleur-de-lis mark, as seen on this spoon. Hanau silver is beginning to be better understood and collected, and hence might be worth hanging on to for the moment. Value: £15-£25 Photograph: Steve Johnson