Corkscrew Collecting       
www.corkscrewcollecting.com

Very happy to buy your antique corkscrew or if you
have a few, your collection of antique or vintage cork
screws.

Top prices paid!

Send a picture or two to:
ed@corkscrewcollecting.com

If you take an interest in corkscrews & decide you'd
like to collect a few - be warned! Corkscrew
collecting can become an addiction. As soon as
you've found something that you might of been
chasing for a while your mind quickly thinks of the
next one that you'd like.

One thing is for sure, there are 1000's of different
corkscrews you could collect & even a lifetime of
collecting wouldn't see you find them all.

Some collectors decide fairly quickly that they will
specialise in a specific type. One chap I know
collects corkscrews with cork gripping teeth,
champagne taps & folding bows. Another chap just
very rare top end English corkscrews. Others like
Don Bull collect everything & at the time of writing,
February 2011 he is offering his collection of more
than 6,500 corkscrews for sale. When I started I
collected pretty much everything too, but over the
last few years my collection focus has primarily
focused on English pieces.

It's a good idea to know the corkscrew terminology,
the types of materials used, metals, bone, ivory,
celluloid, etc..


Starting with the type of worms.
Here's an original Henshall, the World's first patented corkscrew in
1795 by Samuel Henshall. Terminology added.

1. Cyphered wire helix - sometimes called a bladed helix
2. Bladed worm - Favoured in many German designs
3. Speed worm - for quickness
4. Archimedian - Often seen on very early pieces
5. Auger worm - Quite an uncommon design
6. Wire helix - Often found on 19th century pieces, easy to
make so quite common.
7. Grooved wire helix - A groove for added strength
The dusting brush
was designed to
clean wax, debris &
dust from the bottle.

You'll often find
direct pull
corkscrews with a
hole where the
dusting brush would
of been.

It's easy to replace.
A good pure bristle
paint brush, a pot of
glue & a pair of
scissors will do the
job.

The corrosion
shown on the shank
in the picture is
referred to as being
pitted or pitting
The wire helix in the photograph has snapped & probably 1/2 a turn has been lost. This can been referred to as
being a short worm or being tipped.

Sometimes corkscrews with a top nut such as the Henshall shown can have a wobbly handle. Tightening the top nut
is straight forward, as it has a thread. Be careful though as pliers can leave grip marks.
A Multitude of different materials have been used to make corkscrews
Bone
Stag
Ivory
Horn
Celluloid
Boxwood
Steel
Rosewood
Tusk & silver
Wire
Tin
Brass

Plus plenty of other materials too. Aluminium, Syrocowood (A mix of wood flour, waxes & resins), Mahogany,
Lignum Vitae, Iron, various plastics, etc, etc.
SOME MORE CORKSCREW JARGON. THIS TIME, FIRSTLY ON A 19th CENTURY 2 PILLAR
STEEL CORKSCREW & SECONDLY ON A LATE 19th CENTURY NICKEL PLATED KINGS
RACK & PINION CORKSCREW
BUYER BEWARE!

An enthusiastic buyer paid a
staggering £160 for this
fishing reel corkscrew on
ebay. Oh my!

ebay always has some very
creative pieces available -
buyer beware!

For hints & tips using ebay
check out the Corkscrew
Collecting
ebay guide
Categorising Corkscrews

  • FOLDING BOWS
  • CHAMPAGNE TAPS
  • CLOUGH
  • EASERS
  • FIGURALS
  • KEYS
  • MECHANICALS
  • MISCELLANEOUS
  • METAL FINGER PULLS
  • PERFUME
  • POCKET
  • PRONGS & PULLERS
These categories work fine for me but it
does create a dilemma for some pieces
that don't fit particularly well. However, a
problem corkscrew will always fit my
miscellaneous section. Maybe you can
devise your own set of categories that
work for you without a section for oddballs.
CONDITION IS KING

BROKEN PARTS DETRACT

MISSING PIECES DETRACT

FAULTY MECHANISMS DETRACT

BUY PIECES IN GOOD CONDITION
WHICH CORKSCREW BOOK?
Corkscrew Collecting Book
Review
A HUGE CATALOGUE OF
ANTIQUE CORKSCREWS FOR SALE
Corkscrew Central Corkscrews for Sale
Something puzzling you?
Send your technical question to me
The Corkscrew Professor
professor@corkscrewcollecting.com
Take your time to explore this website
CorkscrewCollecting.com

It is crammed full with information about
Patents, registered designs & antique
corkscrews in all forms.

The intention here a
t Corkscrew Collecting is
to make this website the no 1 Internet
resource for anyone that has an interest in
antique corkscrews.

If you don't find what you're looking for, drop
us a line. We'll do our best to answer your
questions & could well add the content to this
website to help others.

Ed@corkscrewcollecting.com

Another type
of worm.

This is a
double helix.
Introduction...
It will be great to hear from you!
mrcorkscrew@corkscrewcollecting.com
It's all about Antique & Vintage Corkscrews
Valuation
& Buying
Service

Send pictures of your
corkscrew or corkscrews
to receive a current
valuation with the
compliments of
Corkscrews
Collecting dot com.

Value my corkscrew

Happy to buy
Cash waiting for
interesting pieces or
complete corkscrew
collections