Joseph Hackmey - The chess player of the stamp world
Joseph Hackmey
I met Joseph Hackmey at his son's office in London's Park Lane – just behind the Four Seasons Hotel. It's a plush building in the most expensive part of London. I found myself waiting in an air conditioned office on a sofa in front of a large impressionist art work, which I later learnt was painted by Michael Argov one of Israel's most famous painters.
After a few minutes Joseph, who is a large man, came in wearing a pair of baggy linen trousers and a T-shirt. 'What can I do for you?' he said.
It was fascinating to meeting Joseph. He is one of the world's great collectors – both of paintings and stamps. He also avoids publicity. Despite the fact that he is reckoned to be worth around a billion pounds, has a huge property empire and one time he was the leading figure in the Israeli insurance industry, relatively little has been written about him.
He's not shy and he's not a hermit:he just avoids the limelight. When I phoned him, he was quite happy to see me, although he didn't want anything published in a newspaper.
I first saw Joseph when he displaying his collection of Australian stamps at the Royal Philatelic Society London. It's a very interesting collection. Before the Australian post service was united in 1913, it operated as a series of separate post offices run by the individual states – one in New South Wales, another in Queensland, others in South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.
The stamps from the Australian states are very diverse. Some are very crude, many are quite attractive. Many of the early ones were printed in primitive conditions -in small sheds with wooden printing blocks.
The value of the stamps on show must have been three or four million pounds. And this constituted only about a tenth of the collection – although it did represent the best and most valuable material.
At the display, it was stated that he had 17 collections of stamps – of which this was just one. I mentioned this to Joseph. 'It's more than that,' he said, 'I think I've got about 26 collections of stamps.' Some of them are incredibly valuable. Five years ago he sold his collections of New Zealand and Ceylon stamps. Each of these collection realised around two million pounds. 'I had them for so many years. I thought it was enough,' he told me. In 2010 he sold one of the world's finest collections of USA stamps: one item alone- the 1851 Beaver cover - is valued at $2 million. The collection was due to be sold at auction by Swiss-based auctioneers David Feldman. but the auctioneers were approached by well-known dealer Charles Shreeve of Spink, on behalf of William Gross. Gross bought the entire collection for what is described as an 'eight figure sum' - ie over $10 million. Hackmey still has plenty of stamps left in his vaults - $100 million would probably be a conservative estimate of the value of his collection.
Francis Kiddle, who introduced the display at the RPSL, explained Hackmey's method of collecting. 'He starts to buy a particular field, but he doesn't tell anybody, because he knows it will take 25 years to build up a collection in a particular area.' Collectors only started to realise that Hackmey was buying items, when they noticed that certain well-known stamps were simply not being shown at exhibition.
Kiddle also explained: 'He doesn't collect in an area where there are already two serious collectors, because he wants to be the best in whatever field he is involved in.'
Hackmey is immensely clever. His family is Israeli although he was educated in Switzerland where he became the under-16 chess champion of East Switzerland. 'My family lived in Israel for around five generations. Originally, my ancestors came from Spain and spoke Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish),' he said.
He is obviously proud of his academic achievements. He went to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (“I got my BA when I was 18 years and 11 months.') He did a masters in engineering and then became a fellow of the institute of actuaries in London. He worked in insurance from 1968 , becoming head of the Israel phoenix assurance company, which by the time he sold it in 2002, had 20 per cent of Israel's insurance business. He diversified into property. His family currently does a lot of business in London and he is currently estimated to be worth around one billion pounds. However it is his intellectual pursuits that he is most keen to talk about.
Between 1993-1997 he did a degree in maths, then between 1998 and 2002 he did another degree in ancient history, then studied ancient languages and is currently – at the age of 70 – completing an MA in Judaic studies. 'I haven't done much business for the last 15 years,' he said.
He speaks in a down to earth staccato way. It is hard to say whether this is because he is from Israel, where people tend to talk in clipped sentences, or because he's powerful and therefore rather used to people listening to whatever he has to say. But he never comes across as rude. To me at least, he was never less than a gentleman.
Reflecting on the fact that he has so many pursuits, I asked if he ever got bored. 'How can you get bored?' he said disparagingly, 'If you're bored, pick up a book.'
I asked him if he had a tremendous urge to buy stamps. 'You don't need a tremendous urge. Do you have a tremendous urge to buy strawberries?' I pointed out that when I was young, I was slightly obsessive about stamps and had a burning desire to own some particular issues. 'Ah,' he said, 'With age your appetite declines.'
I asked him about his various collections. 'You put a collection together slowly, like a jigsaw. Art news have me as one of the biggest collectors in the world.' he added. I later found out that he was also on the committees of the Tate Modern, where he is a major donor.
His speciality is paintings from 1860-1970. 'At any time I have four or five works on loan to exhibitions. I am currently lending a Van Gogh to Amsterdam.' I mentioned the fact that rich people always want Picassos as an indication of their wealth. ' 'I have a Picasso.,' he said calmly, 'In fact I have more than one.' He refused to tell me exactly which Picassos he owned.
I point out that a lot of rich people want the kudos of collecting. For many of them, art is just way of parading their wealth. He thought about this for a moment.'You can't generalise. Some people are very knowledgeable. Some people know nothing.' I mentioned a recent sale of Russian art at Sothebys, which drew a lot of very rich Russian buyers. I expressed the view that most of the material was poor. He was familiar with the sale. 'Yes, it was poor quality,' he said. Then he added: 'The point of collecting is to know the thing that you are collecting.' He said that when he bought a stamp he knew exactly how many copies were in existence and who they belonged to. It was a point of pride that he understood the market in which he was buying.
I asked him how he chose which kind of paintings to collect. 'I don't know why I collect certain things. There's probably a psychological reason for it.' I pointed out that there must be things in his various collections that he hasn't seen for several years. 'That's undoubtedly true,' he said.
Some buyers get a thrill out of buying stuff at auction. I asked him if it was like a poker game. 'No it's not a poker game. In poker you have to hide your intentions. Here you are making it clear that you want to buy.'
So is it like a chess game? 'No you make up your mind on what you want. You concentrate on one type of item, rather than just dabble.'
I asked him what makes a good collection . I had expected him to say something about learning to appreciate things and bringing them together. But I was wrong: he didn't talk like a philosopher or an art historian. Instead he had more showy approach. 'You need a big item. At least one. Then people will take an interest. If you go to an art gallery, people want to see a Rembrandt – not the minor painters.' I pointed out that three days before seeing him, I'd visited the Wallace collection in London. I was more struck by the tiny detailed paintings by Pieter de Hooch, than I was by the Rembrandts. 'Yes,' he said, 'but de Hooch is not a minor painter. He's a great painter. You need to see the good things.'
He then started asking me what I collected. I told him that I manly collected stamps from Autstralia and that I had just stared to collect stamps from the states. 'Don't buy all them. Just get one state. I suggest that you pick on Victoria. They more sexy than the others.'
He seemed in no hurry for me to leave, so we started discussing politics. He seemed genuinely interested in discussion, although I don't suppose I said anything startlingly original. I spent an interesting hour and a half with him. He was an interesting man, a charming man, a person who liked knowing things and who enjoyed the challenge of creating some of the world's finest stamp collections.
see also - Hackmey shows his collection in London
Bill Gross - the poker player and collector
Other famous collectors
After a few minutes Joseph, who is a large man, came in wearing a pair of baggy linen trousers and a T-shirt. 'What can I do for you?' he said.
It was fascinating to meeting Joseph. He is one of the world's great collectors – both of paintings and stamps. He also avoids publicity. Despite the fact that he is reckoned to be worth around a billion pounds, has a huge property empire and one time he was the leading figure in the Israeli insurance industry, relatively little has been written about him.
He's not shy and he's not a hermit:he just avoids the limelight. When I phoned him, he was quite happy to see me, although he didn't want anything published in a newspaper.
I first saw Joseph when he displaying his collection of Australian stamps at the Royal Philatelic Society London. It's a very interesting collection. Before the Australian post service was united in 1913, it operated as a series of separate post offices run by the individual states – one in New South Wales, another in Queensland, others in South Australia, Western Australia, Victoria and Tasmania.
The stamps from the Australian states are very diverse. Some are very crude, many are quite attractive. Many of the early ones were printed in primitive conditions -in small sheds with wooden printing blocks.
The value of the stamps on show must have been three or four million pounds. And this constituted only about a tenth of the collection – although it did represent the best and most valuable material.
At the display, it was stated that he had 17 collections of stamps – of which this was just one. I mentioned this to Joseph. 'It's more than that,' he said, 'I think I've got about 26 collections of stamps.' Some of them are incredibly valuable. Five years ago he sold his collections of New Zealand and Ceylon stamps. Each of these collection realised around two million pounds. 'I had them for so many years. I thought it was enough,' he told me. In 2010 he sold one of the world's finest collections of USA stamps: one item alone- the 1851 Beaver cover - is valued at $2 million. The collection was due to be sold at auction by Swiss-based auctioneers David Feldman. but the auctioneers were approached by well-known dealer Charles Shreeve of Spink, on behalf of William Gross. Gross bought the entire collection for what is described as an 'eight figure sum' - ie over $10 million. Hackmey still has plenty of stamps left in his vaults - $100 million would probably be a conservative estimate of the value of his collection.
Francis Kiddle, who introduced the display at the RPSL, explained Hackmey's method of collecting. 'He starts to buy a particular field, but he doesn't tell anybody, because he knows it will take 25 years to build up a collection in a particular area.' Collectors only started to realise that Hackmey was buying items, when they noticed that certain well-known stamps were simply not being shown at exhibition.
Kiddle also explained: 'He doesn't collect in an area where there are already two serious collectors, because he wants to be the best in whatever field he is involved in.'
Hackmey is immensely clever. His family is Israeli although he was educated in Switzerland where he became the under-16 chess champion of East Switzerland. 'My family lived in Israel for around five generations. Originally, my ancestors came from Spain and spoke Ladino (Judaeo-Spanish),' he said.
He is obviously proud of his academic achievements. He went to the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (“I got my BA when I was 18 years and 11 months.') He did a masters in engineering and then became a fellow of the institute of actuaries in London. He worked in insurance from 1968 , becoming head of the Israel phoenix assurance company, which by the time he sold it in 2002, had 20 per cent of Israel's insurance business. He diversified into property. His family currently does a lot of business in London and he is currently estimated to be worth around one billion pounds. However it is his intellectual pursuits that he is most keen to talk about.
Between 1993-1997 he did a degree in maths, then between 1998 and 2002 he did another degree in ancient history, then studied ancient languages and is currently – at the age of 70 – completing an MA in Judaic studies. 'I haven't done much business for the last 15 years,' he said.
He speaks in a down to earth staccato way. It is hard to say whether this is because he is from Israel, where people tend to talk in clipped sentences, or because he's powerful and therefore rather used to people listening to whatever he has to say. But he never comes across as rude. To me at least, he was never less than a gentleman.
Reflecting on the fact that he has so many pursuits, I asked if he ever got bored. 'How can you get bored?' he said disparagingly, 'If you're bored, pick up a book.'
I asked him if he had a tremendous urge to buy stamps. 'You don't need a tremendous urge. Do you have a tremendous urge to buy strawberries?' I pointed out that when I was young, I was slightly obsessive about stamps and had a burning desire to own some particular issues. 'Ah,' he said, 'With age your appetite declines.'
I asked him about his various collections. 'You put a collection together slowly, like a jigsaw. Art news have me as one of the biggest collectors in the world.' he added. I later found out that he was also on the committees of the Tate Modern, where he is a major donor.
His speciality is paintings from 1860-1970. 'At any time I have four or five works on loan to exhibitions. I am currently lending a Van Gogh to Amsterdam.' I mentioned the fact that rich people always want Picassos as an indication of their wealth. ' 'I have a Picasso.,' he said calmly, 'In fact I have more than one.' He refused to tell me exactly which Picassos he owned.
I point out that a lot of rich people want the kudos of collecting. For many of them, art is just way of parading their wealth. He thought about this for a moment.'You can't generalise. Some people are very knowledgeable. Some people know nothing.' I mentioned a recent sale of Russian art at Sothebys, which drew a lot of very rich Russian buyers. I expressed the view that most of the material was poor. He was familiar with the sale. 'Yes, it was poor quality,' he said. Then he added: 'The point of collecting is to know the thing that you are collecting.' He said that when he bought a stamp he knew exactly how many copies were in existence and who they belonged to. It was a point of pride that he understood the market in which he was buying.
I asked him how he chose which kind of paintings to collect. 'I don't know why I collect certain things. There's probably a psychological reason for it.' I pointed out that there must be things in his various collections that he hasn't seen for several years. 'That's undoubtedly true,' he said.
Some buyers get a thrill out of buying stuff at auction. I asked him if it was like a poker game. 'No it's not a poker game. In poker you have to hide your intentions. Here you are making it clear that you want to buy.'
So is it like a chess game? 'No you make up your mind on what you want. You concentrate on one type of item, rather than just dabble.'
I asked him what makes a good collection . I had expected him to say something about learning to appreciate things and bringing them together. But I was wrong: he didn't talk like a philosopher or an art historian. Instead he had more showy approach. 'You need a big item. At least one. Then people will take an interest. If you go to an art gallery, people want to see a Rembrandt – not the minor painters.' I pointed out that three days before seeing him, I'd visited the Wallace collection in London. I was more struck by the tiny detailed paintings by Pieter de Hooch, than I was by the Rembrandts. 'Yes,' he said, 'but de Hooch is not a minor painter. He's a great painter. You need to see the good things.'
He then started asking me what I collected. I told him that I manly collected stamps from Autstralia and that I had just stared to collect stamps from the states. 'Don't buy all them. Just get one state. I suggest that you pick on Victoria. They more sexy than the others.'
He seemed in no hurry for me to leave, so we started discussing politics. He seemed genuinely interested in discussion, although I don't suppose I said anything startlingly original. I spent an interesting hour and a half with him. He was an interesting man, a charming man, a person who liked knowing things and who enjoyed the challenge of creating some of the world's finest stamp collections.
see also - Hackmey shows his collection in London
Bill Gross - the poker player and collector
Other famous collectors