Rarities are the prize for any dedicated collector and Hollywood has woven this pursuit into celluloid dollars with adventures - from Indiana Jones to Tomb Raider - portraying heroes fending off evil-doers in pursuit of lost treasures.
In the real world, however, it's safer and more lawful to go along to an antiques dealer. And Hong Kong's Hollywood Road, and this weekend's AIAA Fair, is where the serious collector can find rare antiquities.
The odds of being able to emulate the stunts that millions of cinemagoers have seen Harrison Ford and Angelina Jolie go through are low, and certainly not encouraged. So perhaps public auctions are the nearest substitute where the adventure driven can obtain their adrenaline fix. But only if they're prepared to accept the limitations of discreet bidding and hushed environs.
Ceramics, jades and paintings are, according to local dealers, relatively easy to come across at auctions. What does get hearts aflutter among collectors are bronzes - particularly archaic Chinese bronzes - with authentic pieces seldom getting near the auctioneer's hammer.
Joyce Liang, of Joyce Gallery, said that this lack of an open resale channel could deter all but the most avid collectors. But there were still many collectors who looked for bronzes directly from antique dealers.
'These buyers are mainly private collectors and long-term investors from the mainland, Taiwan, Europe and the United States, and some of the world's leading museums and galleries,' Ms Liang said.
The fact that prestige mainland institutions, such as the National Museum of China, the Shanghai Museum and the Beijing Poly Art Museum, have laid down purchase plans for archaic Chinese bronzes makes the market all the more intriguing.
