Hi Tony
I agree about the quality and rarity point - if you want a good antique Baccarat carpet ground or bouquet, or a top quality Clichy or Saint-Louis piece, you will have to pay a lot. The effect of the recession has been to push up the prices of the choice pieces - but in some areas it has led to a fall in prices - so as you say, a good time to build your collection. A typical Baccarat pansy can be picked up for half what it might have cost ten years ago, for example, and many Whitefriars are well below their peak prices. But it is a patchy effect - some makes seem to be unaffected.
Alan