This is Bakırköy: A striking warning from a 15-year antique expert

Şefik Uysal, who restores and sells antique typewriters, gramophones, calculators, cash registers, record players, and radios in Istanbul's Bakırköy district, has been repairing antiques for 15 years. Offering advice on antique items, Uysal warned, "Do not put your old items in damp places. Because it becomes a bit harder to restore them."

12punto 17 November 2023

Şefik Uysal, one of the 3 antique repairmen in Istanbul, advised, "Do not put your old items in basements, attics, or damp places as much as possible. Because it becomes a bit harder to restore them. At the very least, if they give them to someone who knows their value, an antique dealer, or someone who loves them, they will gain value. They won't end up ruined," he said.

Gramophones, typewriters, and record players that were once found in homes have become antique items over time. Having had a habit of collecting since he was young, Şefik Uysal collected antiques as a hobby until he was 25.

DECIDED TO OPEN A SHOP

Deciding to build a collection with the antiques he had been gathering since he was 17, Şefik Uysal began to take care of them himself when he couldn't find anyone to perform the maintenance. Realizing his manual dexterity, the antique dealer decided to open a shop when he could no longer fit the antiques he added to his collection into his home.

46-year-old Uysal, who has been a shop owner for 15 years, restores and sells typewriters, gramophones, calculators, cash registers, record players, and radios. Uysal, one of the 3 repair masters in Istanbul, said that he buys some of the antiques in the shop from homes and others from abroad.

'I DO IT WITH PLEASURE'

46-year-old Şefik Uysal, who restores and sells antique items, said, "I have been actively working in this profession for 15 years. I am a mechanical repairman. I repair typewriters, gramophones, calculators, and cash registers. We also repair record players and radios in my shop. I have another master who repairs the radios. We continue this way. There are 3 of us working in the shop in total. As I said, I repair the mechanics. We have a master who is always here, doing our odd jobs, polishing, and sanding. And there is another master who repairs the record players. We work as a team of 3.

I actually started the profession as a collector. We didn't have the idea of opening a shop before. There was no one to repair the products we bought. I was also somewhat capable of these things. I had manual dexterity. Since we started as collectors, we were putting the products we bought at home. My wife kicked me out of the house. We didn't have a space.

Naturally, there was a need for extra expenses to rent a space. Because being a collector is a bit of a burdensome job. You need a place to put the products you buy. Since there was no one to repair the purchased products, I started doing odd repairs. I didn't have a profession I was thinking of. At least I don't remember what I wanted to be right now. I am currently dealing with antiques. And I do it with pleasure. I am still working right now," he expressed.

'MOST OF THEM COME FROM ABROAD'

Stating that there has been more interest in antiques over the last 5 years, antique dealer Uysal said, "Most of the products we buy generally come from abroad. We bring them from abroad ourselves. There are also friends who bring them, we buy from them. Or there can be products that come out of homes here. Let me talk about typewriters; there are F keyboards, A keyboards, and Q keyboards. Q keyboards are keyboards that come from abroad. The keyboards that appear in Turkey are F keyboards. F keyboards are predominantly found in Turkey. There were also A keyboards before that. A and F keyboards can be found in abundance in Turkey.

But we bring all the Q keyboards from abroad. They already come as German-made or English keyboards. The same applies to other products. As I said, there are also products that come out of homes, or we do repairs for tradesmen. Many materials are procured from abroad. We are trying to make sales over the internet here. If there are those passing by our shop, we can give them to them. We put them on social media. I have been working actively for 15 years, but especially in the last 5 years, it has been a bit more active," he said.

'THERE ARE 3 MASTERS DOING REPAIRS IN ISTANBUL'

Stating that he is one of the 3 masters doing repairs in Istanbul, Uysal said, "15 years ago, let's say, I'm going to speak hypothetically about this figure, if there were 100 shops with antiques in Turkey, there are at least 300-400 now. When we started, antique shops were very rare, but currently, many of the collectors have actually become shop owners. After reaching a certain stage by collecting, they start selling.

There are 3 masters currently doing repairs in Istanbul. One of them is me. I am a bit different from the others. I also fix their condition. Other masters only do normal maintenance. When the time comes, I can do the painting or everything. I do their polishing, I make them shine. I have gone through everything on the typewriter you see. My other colleagues shouldn't be angry with me, but for example, they generally don't touch their polishing much. I remove the writings on these, redo their polishing and painting," he said.

'DO NOT PUT YOUR OLD ITEMS IN ATTICS'

Offering advice on antique items, Şefik Uysal said, "Do not put your old items in basements or attics as much as possible. Do not put them in damp places. Because it becomes a bit harder to restore them. At the very least, if they give them to someone who knows their value, an antique dealer, or someone who loves them, they will gain value. They won't end up ruined," he said.