If you’ve ever drank champagne or other sparkling wines, you must have noticed that in addition to a mushroom-shaped cork, there is a “metal cap and wire” combination on the mouth of the bottle.
Because sparkling wine contains carbon dioxide, its bottle pressure is equivalent to five to six times atmospheric pressure, or two to three times the pressure of a car tire. In order to prevent the cork from being fired like a bullet, Adolphe Jacquesson, the former owner of Champagne Jacquesson, invented this special sealing method and applied for a patent for this invention in 1844.
And our protagonist today is the small metal bottle cap on the cork. Even though it is only the size of a coin, this square inch has become a vast world for many people to display their artistic talents. Some beautiful or commemorative designs are of great collection value, which also attracts many collectors. The person with the largest collection of champagne caps is a collector named Stephane Primaud, who has a total of nearly 60,000 caps, of which about 3,000 are “antiques” before 1960.
On March 4, 2018, the 7th Champagne Bottle Cap Expo was held in Le Mesgne-sur-Auger, a village in the Marne department in the Champagne region of France. Organized by the local champagne producers’ union, the expo has also prepared 5,000 champagne bottle caps with the expo logo in three shades of gold, silver and bronze as souvenirs. Bronze caps are given out to visitors for free at the entrance of the pavilion, while silver and gold caps are sold inside the pavilion. Stephane Delorme, one of the organizers of the fair, said: “Our aim is to bring all the enthusiasts together. Even a lot of children brought their little collections.”
In the 3,700-square-meter exhibition hall, nearly one million bottle caps were displayed in 150 booths, attracting more than 5,000 champagne bottle cap collectors from France, Belgium, Luxembourg and other European countries. Some of them drove hundreds of kilometers just to find that champagne cap that was forever missing from their collection.
In addition to the display of champagne bottle caps, many artists also brought their works related to champagne bottle caps. French-Russian artist Elena Viette showed her dresses made of champagne bottle caps; another artist, Jean-Pierre Boudinet, brought for his sculptures made of champagne bottle caps.
This event is not only an exhibition, but also an important platform for collectors to trade or exchange champagne bottle caps. The price of champagne bottle caps is also very different, ranging from a few cents to hundreds of euros, and some champagne bottle caps are even several times or even dozens of times the price of a bottle of champagne. It is reported that the price of the most expensive champagne bottle cap at the expo reached 13,000 euros (about 100,000 yuan). And in the champagne bottle cap collection market, the rarest and most expensive bottle cap is the bottle cap of Champagne Pol Roger 1923, which has only three in existence, and is estimated to be as high as 20,000 euros (about 150,000 yuan). RMB). It seems that the caps of champagne bottles can’t be thrown around after opening.
Post time: Apr-03-2023