There are two ways to attend a taping of “Antiques Roadshow.” The first is to enter a random drawing for free tickets to any of the PBS program’s six summer stops—cities and dates for 2010 are San Diego on June 12, Billings on June 26, Miami Beach on July 10, Biloxi on July 24, Des Moines on August 7, and Washington, D.C. on August 21. As long as you apply between now and April 19, 2010, your chances of winning a pair of passes are just as good as anyone else’s.

This year, the show’s home station of WGBH in Boston is offering three lucky viewers the additional opportunity to win a pair of VIP passes to the show of your choice. All you have to do is enter the WGBH Lab’s Open Call program, which has been soliciting and airing viewer-produced videos since 2003.

The “Antiques Roadshow” Open Call is a first for the top-rated show. Naturally, videos submitted to this Open Call should focus on a cherished item or collection of things that have been in a family for a long, long time. With a …

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By Maribeth Keane and Brad Quinn

In this interview, Don Levison explains how wristwatches evolved from pocket watches and ladies’ bracelet watches, weighs in on the advantages of collecting vintage Hamiltons, and shares his unabashed enthusiasm for Patek Philippe, Cartier, and other classic brands. You can reach Levison via his website at www.antiquehorology.com.

I got interested in pocket watches from working on mechanical things. I had an old car, and working on it gave me immediate satisfaction. It’s a thrill to fix something and get it to run. But I realized that keeping an old car in San Francisco wasn’t …

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As anyone who follows vintage Barbie dolls on eBay knows, rare examples in good condition from 1959 or 1960 regularly go for $1,000 or more.

But that may be small change compared to the special Basic Barbies benefit auction eBay is holding this week, in cooperation with Mattel and the Council of Fashion Designers of America. From January 28th through February 7th, eBay visitors will get to bid on 12 one-of-a-kind Basic Barbies, which have been individually customized and bedecked by a prominent accessories designer. That’s right – they outfitted one single doll each – an instant collectors item.

This …

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By Ben Marks

Matthew Haley is a books and manuscripts specialist at Bonhams & Butterfields in New York. A recent arrival to the United States from the United Kingdom, Haley is not just in the book business, he’s an avid fan of books—from their physicality and design to the literature and poetry between their covers. Recently we spoke to Haley about first editions, the difference between first editions and first printings, and some of the most collectible titles and authors on the market today.

Strictly speaking, a book’s edition refers to the setting of the text. So the first time you …

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