https://featherstonevaults.com/journal Writing on collecting, provenance and documentation from Featherstone Vaults, a private dealer and collection house in the Cotswolds. en-GB Featherstone Vaults Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/judging-a-mineral-specimen https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/judging-a-mineral-specimen A mineral specimen is worth what its locality, its condition and its honesty make it worth. The useful questions are where it came from, what has been done to it, and how sure anyone can be about what it is. Natural History Thomas Featherstone Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/selling-an-inherited-natural-history-collection https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/selling-an-inherited-natural-history-collection An inherited natural history collection is often worth more than the family expects, and almost always worth more with its labels than without them. What to keep, what to check and what to ask before anything is sold. Natural History Thomas Featherstone Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/spotting-fake-fossils https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/spotting-fake-fossils Fossil forgery is old, skilled and still common. Most fakes fall into a few kinds, from resin casts and assembled composites to painted detail, and each leaves signs a careful buyer can learn to look for. Natural History Thomas Featherstone Sun, 25 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/apollo-artefacts-private-collections https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/apollo-artefacts-private-collections Apollo material can be privately owned, but the route into private hands matters. The strongest examples carry a chain of title that can be followed back to NASA, an astronaut, a contractor or another documented source. Space & Exploration Thomas Featherstone Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/meteorite-provenance https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/meteorite-provenance A meteorite name and classification describe scientific identity. Provenance explains why the specimen in front of you can credibly be connected to that identity. Natural History Thomas Featherstone Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/buying-antiquities-legally-uk https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/buying-antiquities-legally-uk There is no single UK rule that makes every ancient object lawful or unlawful to own. A responsible purchase depends on title, excavation history, export history and the law that applies to the object's country of origin. Antiquities Thomas Featherstone Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/dirty-dozen-www-watches https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/dirty-dozen-www-watches Twelve Swiss manufacturers supplied Britain's late-war W.W.W. service watch. The watches look simple, but originality, military markings and correct combinations of parts make the field much more exacting than it first appears. Timepieces Thomas Featherstone Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/documenting-shipwreck-artefacts https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/documenting-shipwreck-artefacts A convincing shipwreck provenance should record where an object was recovered, under what authority, how title was resolved and what conservation happened after it left the sea. Shipwreck & Maritime Thomas Featherstone Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/museum-quality-fossil https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/museum-quality-fossil “Museum quality” is a market description, not a scientific grade. The useful questions are how much original fossil is present, how it was prepared, what has been restored and how much geological information survives with it. Natural History Thomas Featherstone Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/understanding-antiquities-provenance https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/understanding-antiquities-provenance Provenance is the modern biography of an antiquity. The useful version names people, collections, dates and documents, and makes clear where the record stops. Antiquities Thomas Featherstone Sun, 20 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/building-a-serious-private-collection https://featherstonevaults.com/journal/building-a-serious-private-collection A working method for building a collection with coherence, documentation and enough patience to let the best objects come to you. Collecting Thomas Featherstone Tue, 02 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT