Last December I brought in from an American colleague a superb example of a J B Vuillaume meche interchangeable bow, almost certainly by Pierre Simon – circa 1845. This bow had a later frog (Joseph Voirin circa 1860) and button but from a similar period and were again from the Vuillaume workshop in origin.
Of course I had the bow for five days and the first violinist to see and play on it bought it. Some time before on a recent trip to Paris to do further research on bows I took a picture of this bow alongside another meche interchangeable bow which later that month sold at a major French auction house for £30,000.
Perhaps dealers are not always the most expensive purchase areas; it is also worth considering that some damage can be a good thing when wishing to play on the very best of equipment on a limited budget. PHB continues the search to bring the best playing bows to the discerning player at a reasonable price.