“Corps Embouti” Pierret Alto On eBay
Author: Helen
For a while there eBay had no listings for any of the obscure, vintage saxophones that I keep watch for. Then over the past couple of weeks, this changed. The most recent offering: a nickel plated, alto, “Corps Embouti” model Pierret. (BTW, according to Google translate, corps embouti means body stamped.)
Source: eBay.com
The seller of this vintage sax describes it as follows:
Here is a very unique model Pierret alto sax in Silver plate, s/n 1940 Manufacture Speciale de Saxophones L.Pierret Paris “Corps Embouti”
If your not familiar with the Pierret brand they are very comparable to Selmer of the same vintage and probably the best French made
http://www.saxpics.com/pierret/index.htm
the saxaphone is in excellent conditon probly needs a few ujustments im not a musician player but friend of mine played it and he said that it is very good exept the photo with the arrow it is soldering the bar but dosnt effect playing. if any questions please ring me instead of e-mailing me i preffer bank deposit or paypal
bidders from international they welcome but please send me an e-mail for shipping cost
the countries varies australia pays 100 dollars for delivery and insurance and a tracking number
no case and no mouth pice the sax will be very well packaged thanks TEL NO. XXXXXXXXX
BUY NO $1800
Source: eBay.com
I’m not sure about the finish being original. It is possible that this sax might have been replated at some point in its 80+ years.
This vintage Pierret is located in Australia, and therefore the auction is in Australian dollars. The starting bid for the sax is $850.00 AU. (Approx. $735.08 US according to eBay.) At the time of writing there were no bids yet on the horn. The auction runs until February 11.
I must admit, I’m a bit confused by the seller’s ad. Although he/she doesn’t have a Buy It Now option in the auction itself, I’m guessing that the “BUY NO” [sic] for $1800 AU ($1566.40 US, according to XE.com), is supposed to represent the amount that they’d be willing to sell it to you for. If that’s indeed that the case, to the seller I’d say: Good luck with that.
As the owner of a Pierret I’d love to see this “Corps Embouti” sell for $1800 AU, since that would mean my sax would be worth close to that as well. Now while recent sales of 1920s Pierrets have been in the $500 US range, nothing has come close to $1500 US.
Now if you decide you’d like to buy this “Corps Embouti”—or if you already have one—perhaps you’d like to add a Pierret business card with the words ”Corps emboutis” on it, to your collection.
Source: eBay.com
Actually any Pierret owner might find this card a rather interesting collectible. The auction for it runs until February 14. Bids start at €9.00 ($12.30 US), and the Buy It Now price is €15.00. At the time of writing there were no bids yet on this business card.
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sam netherland on 
Chris on
I think the finish just might be original. Of all the surface coatings in common use (back then), both gold and nickel have the potential to stay that fresh this long. I have a feeling many of today’s epoxy finishes will also hold up extremely well, perhaps better than the horns they’re attached to, but those were not an option 80 years ago.
I have seen nickel-plated antique horns (by which I mean anything prior to about 1910, with two octave keys) that look almost as good as the day they were made. They looked so good, I actually suspected some of being modern replicas made in India — though a close inspection ruled this out. You had an article about a tenor very much like this — two octave keys, keyed only to low B, and nickel plated. It was stunning.
Yes, the finish certainly may be original. The problem is the photos are not very good, that’s why I had questions about the finish.
If you look at the picture of the left pinkie cluster, the details of the nail file G# are not very clear. That might be because of the photo itself, or it could be because the horn was refinished. Also in the pictures of the engraving, the engraving is not as crisp as it could be. Again, that might be an issue with the photos, but it’s hard to say.
Nickel plate certainly stands up very well, but my Klingsor tenor has a fair amount of wear on it. The nickel finish has been worn off in spots, and the bare brass is showing through now. This Pierret however, doesn’t have any obvious signs of wear that are visible in the photos. This again makes me wonder whether the sax was just not played a lot in its 80+ years, or if it was refinished at some point, and then not played much since.
In any event, replating is not a detractant for me. Unlike relacquering where you’re taking away metal, with replating, you’re actually adding to it.
If it was replated, it was clearly a very good job, and it certainly did not detract from the value of the horn. It would be like that Pierret Vibrator model that sold last week that was replated. There too the refinishing did not devalue the horn in any way.
Oh, and about that tenor you mentioned, you were thinking about the Rampone & Cazzani. Yes, it was a very pretty horn. I wonder how the new owner made out with it.
Update: Well you certainly gotta’ love that fighting Aussie spirit. When this Pierret “Corps Embouti” didn’t sell (it didn’t get any bids even), the seller re-listed it. However, this time he upped the starting bid price to $950 AU. That would be approximately $837.81 US according to eBay.
In the new listing, the seller no longer makes reference to the $1800 AU “BUY NO” offer he had free standing in his original text. Perhaps it broke some kind of eBay rule or something.
In any event, if he didn’t get any offers when he had his starting bid price at $850, what makes him think he’ll get any at $950? Although he does say he won’t accept any bids from Nigeria, so perhaps he had some action from there the last time around. He also says: LAST OFFER. (I really wish people wouldn’t yell when trying to sell something. It doesn’t help their cause.) So perhaps if it doesn’t sell this time around, he’s keeping the sax? I doubt it, since he doesn’t play. Maybe he’ll try to sell it locally instead.
Well I wish him luck. Like I said, if it sells for this price, then my Pierret is worth more than I thought.
The auction for this “Corps Embouti” runs until February 18.
Update: Well, this lovely looking Pierret is back on eBay. (Are any of you who follow Pierret sales surprised?) Although I had wished it would have sold for close to a $1000 AU, it was just not meant to be. I guess we Pierret owners will just hang onto our horns a while longer… Eventually they’ll be as valuable as Selmers. I just know it.
… Heh, a girl can dream, can’t she?
Anyways, back to this “Corps Embouti”… The seller decided to drop the price considerably. I don’t know what it started at, but at the moment, it’s sitting at $400.00 AU (aprrox. $357.52 US according to eBay). There doesn’t seem to be a reserve on the horn, and at present there are 4 bids on the sax. The auction ends on March 1.
Update: This Pierret “Corps Embouti” did finally sell this last time around. By auction’s end, there were 5 bids on this vintage horn. The winner won the sax for $405 AU, which eBay shows as approximately $365.84 US.
Geez, I guess the seller should have accepted that offer for $450 US that he got the first time around…
The seller seems to equate Stephen Howard’s review of the Super Artiste, with all all Pierrets. Oops…