"The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it", said Oscar Wilde.

Auctions of collectors' items slake a thirst for all kinds of fancies, from scent bottles, musical instruments, photo and film cameras and television sets to pens, pen holders and ink wells.

In these auctions of Collectors' items, pipes, cigarette lighters, cigar boxes, snuff boxes and tobacco jars are highly sought-after objects.

Smokers' kits always fire up the bidding. Collectors of enamelled plaques will be delighted. Philatelists know these sales as an excellent stamping ground for rare collectors' specimens, and taxidermy enthusiasts can ferret out stuffed animals.  The red carpet of the Hôtel Drouot provides a festival of Canes (with systems or pommels) and an elegant parade of automobiles, including cars and horse-drawn vehicles, not to mention planes, boats and motorcycles !

Auctions of collectors' items also encompass curiosities: those "new, rare, singular things" according to the Littré dictionary – which include scientifica, or scientific instruments. With Drouot digital, curiosity can be a positive virtue!