Here are some pics of what is arguably the most collectible cue ever made. The way I understand it, the trinity of holy grail cues is the Golden Babushka, the Last Gus and the Silver Gina. Ernie Gutierrez's 69th birthday was yesterday and he celebrated by working all day like he does every day except Sunday. Kam Daswani (Kam here at AZ) was there visiting Ernie's, as was my friend Joe Richland (junksecret here in AZ land). Ernie was kind enough to show the Silver Gina and Joe ran and got whatever camera he had and shot with the light available in Ernie's shop. I was a little surprised that Ernie allowed the pictures and very surprised when he gave me permission to post them on AZ. I consider this a rather rare treat and that's why I'm posting them here in the Main rather than in cue gallery. My thanks to Kam for inspiring Ernie, Joe for taking the best pics he could in those conditions, and of course, to Ernie for the permission (and for building this monster to begin with).
Ernie started the Silver Gina in 1965 and finished it and the hand made case in 1966. He built the cue as a display of his skills and would take it to tournaments and play with it as a way of drawing attention, showcasing his talents and gathering orders. As you can see, the cue has been used as all Ginas are intended to be used, as a pool playing instrument. The cue and case are constructed of silver, ivory, mother of pearl, maple and ebony. Ernie had been building cues for 3 years when he built this cue more than 40 yeas ago.
I deal in high-end collectibles and the Silver Gina is one of the few instances I can think of where a collectible of high value has been retained in the possession of the person who actually created it. Generally a historically collectible piece gets valued by what it sells or auctions for as it gets passed up the chain from collector to collector to gallery and museums. The Silver Gina is valued in a different way, as it has never been sold. It is valued by the offers Ernie has turned down. Starting in 1966 at turning down the unheard of at that time sum of $3,000 all the way up to modern times with him refusing a purported $350K.
Here it is:
Ernie started the Silver Gina in 1965 and finished it and the hand made case in 1966. He built the cue as a display of his skills and would take it to tournaments and play with it as a way of drawing attention, showcasing his talents and gathering orders. As you can see, the cue has been used as all Ginas are intended to be used, as a pool playing instrument. The cue and case are constructed of silver, ivory, mother of pearl, maple and ebony. Ernie had been building cues for 3 years when he built this cue more than 40 yeas ago.
I deal in high-end collectibles and the Silver Gina is one of the few instances I can think of where a collectible of high value has been retained in the possession of the person who actually created it. Generally a historically collectible piece gets valued by what it sells or auctions for as it gets passed up the chain from collector to collector to gallery and museums. The Silver Gina is valued in a different way, as it has never been sold. It is valued by the offers Ernie has turned down. Starting in 1966 at turning down the unheard of at that time sum of $3,000 all the way up to modern times with him refusing a purported $350K.
Here it is:
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Amazing Cue!!!
