Marconi type-702: World's oldest TV set heading for auction
by Steven Mostyn - Apr 6 2011, 14:42
Who needs HD? Image: Wikimedia.
If we asked you to picture the contents of a modern living room, chances are that most of you would include a massive high-definition LCD or Plasma television occupying one entire wall.
Indeed, widescreen HD television sets are quickly becoming such a mainstream consumer electronics purchase that they’ve ceased to be talking points within the home or, more importantly, symbols of status.
However, if you’ve the money to burn—and a particular penchant for technology of old—then the following item is guaranteed to draw questions of intrigue from anyone and everyone stepping across your threshold.
Specifically, the world’s oldest functioning TV is soon to go under the auction hammer, offering the highest bidder the opportunity to gaze lovingly into a reflected black and white image that’s projected onto a mirror contained within the lid of a gorgeous walnut and mahogany case.
Built by Marconi in 1936, the extremely rare ‘type-702’ television set cost a whopping 100 GBP when the late Mr. G. B. Davis of Dulwich splashed the cash for it some 75 years ago.
Yet, although being an undoubted status symbol at the time, the set didn’t even deliver the local envy its owner may have been hoping for because the nearby Crystal Palace transmitter burned to the ground only three days later.
Being sold by Mr. Davis’ estate through auctioneer Bonhams, the set has a pre-sale estimate of 5,000 GPB, although Bonhams expects it to sell for far more.
Amazingly, 70 percent of the television’s components are original, with the other 30 percent having been replaced by identical parts throughout the course of its life.
If you’re interested in securing a slice of television history that’s harder to find than an 18th century Stradivarius violin, the Bonhams Mechanical Music and Scientific Instruments sale will be held on April 19 in Knightsbridge, London.
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