CHOICE INVESTMENT: John O'Conor, concert pianist and director of the Royal Irish Academy of Music
My most expensive piano is not a miniature but a Steinway grand, which is my pride and joy. To buy it today would cost more than €100,000.
That's my most expensive item, but my collection of miniature pianos started over 20 years ago when a student of mine gave me a present of one.
To be honest, at the time I thought it was incredibly kitsch and turned my nose up at it.
A year later another student, who knew nothing about the first gift, presented me with an even kitschier piano. This time I thought it was cute, and so the collection was born.
I have two favourites - one is a small silver piano which my wife Mary bought for me in Rome. I have a fascination with silver, so that's my favourite. Another is from a student, Annette Andrews, who brought a wooden piano back to me from Moscow.
This piano is complete with a performing musician who moves his hand up and down on the keys. The maximum I would ever spend on the miniatures is €20. The cheaper the better.
My most disastrous investment happened one night many years ago when I was caught badly after a few jars. Someone I met talked me into investing £5,000 in real estate in the Canary Islands. I never saw it again. At the time we had very little money, so it was a particularly expensive lesson.