Spade or Pointy, for years the philatelic arguments have raged (SIC: been discussed politely over a glass of port!). What is the right answer? Is there a right answer? Most philatelists take a definite stand on which kind of tweezer they would rather wield but there are some who are quite happy being the philatelic version of a switch-hitter and will work with whatever they have to hand at the time.
We wanted to delve a little deeper into this subject to see if a true favourite emerged. In order to do this, we spoke to several philatelists across the Stanley Gibbons family to find out on which side of the “tweezer war” they stood...
“You’re not supposed to stand on them! (Ed: Thanks Hugh, he’s here all week guys!) My favourites are a pair of gold-plated Stanley Gibbons tweezers with medium ends”
HUGH JEFFERIES, EDITOR, PART 1
“Spades every time, safer and much better for getting hinges off gently!”
GEORGE JAMES, HEAD OF COMMONWEALTH
“Pointy, for me they are just feel much easier and smoother to use, I find the spade ends feel too cumbersome.”
SCOTT BRADLEY, HEAD OF GB
“Spade. Pointy tweezers are very useful, but if you're not careful it's so easy to pierce a stamp - particularly a classic issue on thin or brittle paper.”
ROBERT SMITH, PHILATELIST, COMMONWEALTH SPECIALIST
“Pointy, I find them easier to use to pick up stamps and less likely to buckle or damage a perf”
TOM HAZELL, HEAD OF AUCTIONS
“If we are being technical, I use Davo 57 small spoon tweezers – neither too pointy or too spade-like. Maybe the Goldilocks of the tweezer world!”
ALISON BOYD, EDITOR OF PHILATELIC EXPORTER
“Spade - why on earth would you voluntarily put something sharp and pointy near a small, valuable piece of paper?”