Collectors: What makes you want to collect a maker's work?

i4Marc

i4Marc

Joined
Oct 19, 2011
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I was talking knives with someone the other day and the subject came up. I am curious to hear from the hardcore, and maybe casual, collectors what the threshold is for you to begin collecting a maker's work. Of course it would vary from collector to collector but I would be interested in hearing your thought process.
 
For me, it's several questions:
1. Are the knives affordable to me?
2. Do they come up often enough that I can get enthused about chasing them down, and not just maybe find one once every five years?
3. Is the demand such that it's fun to hunt drops?
4. Is the secondary market good enough that I can resell without losing money when my interests change?
5. Is it a fun group of collectors?
6. Do I actually like the knives?
 
Most people don’t set out to buy a collection. They buy an individual knife because they like some aspect of it. And they will periodically buy other knives for the same reason. Over time, you may discover that some of these knives are coming from the same maker and that you have a accumulated a collection of that maker’s knives.

n2s
 
If a maker is identifiable by style and quality from a glance, that's a great point.

If you LIKE this S&Q, then acquiring another and another becomes satisfying.

The EXPERIENCE of interacting with a maker HAS to be positive. If you don't actually get to work with them firsthand, then THEIR reputation needs to be nearly impeccable.

^^^ This experience overrules all else. :)

Good thread.
 
For me it's about a special mix of excellence, originality and a personal connection to the maker.

I am very lucky to have this special relationship with some amazing people. These are relationships that have been built over long periods of time and are based of trust and respect from both sides.
 
Very interesting question. I’m very interested to hear everyone’s perspective.

I don’t collect knives but just being in the game im sure after while I will end up collecting far into the future. But for me, I would not be interested in collecting for reselling any pieces. So I don’t care for buying a.. let’s say “warenski” just because it’s a warenski, if I wasn’t completely in love with the knife. My knife collection would be just the knives that I think are particularly elegant and beautiful. I tend to design knives that I think would look nice sitting on a stand being presented like a sculpture in someone’s home and in turn those are the only types Of knives I would be interested in collecting. (Except a random few fun ones to play with that are badass like James helms’ work)

to me a maker interaction wouldn’t make a difference. If I like the knife I like the knife. I only wouldn’t buy from them if they were a jerk and I had some type of negative interaction. But at least in my experience I haven’t spoken to any makers who weren’t super nice and cool to be around

paul
 
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Interesting answers. Some expected, others more intriguing.

Steven, I'd appreciate if you could elaborate a bit on the relationship facet. Where does that relationship begin? With an email or phone call? Do you keep bumping into specific makers at shows and develop the relationship over time through continued conversations?
 
As usual, Coop basically hit the nail on the head!

"style and quality at a glance" is the most succinct way I've heard that thought expressed.

I'd go just a bit further than "EXPERIENCE of interacting with a maker HAS to be positive" though... at least for me.

To be sure, any little "hiccup" can lessen the attraction, but there are also makers who are VERY professional but not necessarily "engaging" and while I've collected fantastic knives those makers, I'm perhaps not as "invested" as I am in those makers as I am in some others...

At the risk of naming names and perhaps unintentionally slighting others, I'll just give a few quick examples:

Jerry Fisk - possibly best known maker in "forged" community. perfect business practices. But also a guy who feels like an old friend 10 minutes after you meet him, and will answer ANY knife question you have without hesitation

Mike Quesenberry - Unbelievable fit and finish, possibly the best in the game. Perfect business practices. Not as "buddy-like as Jerry" but will speak with you in detail about any of your questions - no matter how dumb :)

David Lisch - super creative, super entertaining ! Perfect business practices. incredible work. Another guy who is a real friend quickly and who loves to talk knives.

an up and comer for me....actually, he's already HERE - Javier Vogt. fantastic, innovative work. Probably 5000 miles from me, but great communication and business practices. My interactions with him have all been "Virtual"....but he feels like a friend.


I could go on about even more makers who's work I've collected, but no one wants to read all that :)
I think you get the idea

Bill
 
PaulDiStefano said:
Very interesting question. I’m very interested to hear everyone’s perspective.

I don’t collect knives but just being in the game im sure after while I will end up collecting far into the future. But for me, I would not be interested in collecting for reselling any pieces. So I don’t care for buying a.. let’s say “warenski” just because it’s a warenski, if I wasn’t completely in love with the knife. My knife collection would be just the knives that I think are particularly elegant and beautiful. I tend to design knives that I think would look nice sitting on a stand being presented like a sculpture in someone’s home and in turn those are the only types Of knives I would be interested in collecting. (Except a random few fun ones to play with that are badass like James helms’ work)

to me a maker interaction wouldn’t make a difference. If I like the knife I like the knife. I only wouldn’t buy from them if they were a jerk and I had some type of negative interaction. But at least in my experience I haven’t spoken to any makers who weren’t super nice and cool to be around

paul
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Paul, I think you are underestimating the importance and value of the interaction. I bought a folder from Thorburn at a show. I chatted with him for about half an hour and he humored me looking at photos of some of my creations. When I handle the knife now, I remember the man and our conversation. This makes it much more special than if I bought it second hand just as a nice looking knife.

More generally I like knives that are instantly recognizable as the work of a certain maker.
 
To me it’s like a jjg saw puzzle piece. Some maker’s work just “fit” my personal knife need. I don’t set out to buy more than one from the same maker, but something just draws me back. For me, a knife has to be fully functional, somewhat unique, and…”don’t buy no ugly knife.” :)

Personality of the maker helps, but I buy the knife. For example, I have 3 knives from one maker who’s actually kind of taciturn.
 
Richard338 said:
Paul, I think you are underestimating the importance and value of the interaction. I bought a folder from Thorburn at a show. I chatted with him for about half an hour and he humored me looking at photos of some of my creations. When I handle the knife now, I remember the man and our conversation. This makes it much more special than if I bought it second hand just as a nice looking knife.

More generally I like knives that are instantly recognizable as the work of a certain maker.
Click to expand...
Your probably right.
Just right now when I think in my head about buying a custom knife, I personally would have to be absolutely in love with it to make a purchase and spend all that money. Now let’s say if I only liked a knife (not loved) and had this amazing interaction with a maker where we talked for hours and I really liked the maker, it still wouldn’t make me buy a knife I wasn’t in love with.
or even let’s say I had an amazing interaction with a maker and we were good friends and I owned one of his knives that I loved. If he was to never make a knife I was in love with again, I wouldn’t buy any more knives.

I guess maybe I could see some people being on the fence about a knife and then having a great interaction and that pushing them over into making the purchase. But to me that’s a little more of supporting someone and buying their work because you like them and not because it speaks to you.

For now I don’t feel any interaction could make me love and enjoy a knife anymore then I already thought I would at first glance without exchanging any words.
But I say all of this as an inexperienced collector and my thoughts could very well change. After all, I hear most people talk about their interactions with the makers as being a top reason they make a purchase.
 
Another way to say it, is as a buyer, I generally return to a maker's table for the knives not the personality, but if the personality is a turn off, the knives better be damn good. :)
 
Th
brownshoe said:
Another way to say it, is as a buyer, I generally return to a maker's table for the knives not the personality, but if the personality is a turn off, the knives better be damn good. :)
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In the end your taking home the knife not the maker right lol
 
First and foremost the KNIVES have to appeal to a buyer. Yup.

A 'Collector' is a repeat buyer. The MUCH NEEDED base of the pyramid in our handmade discretionary-income industry.

The interaction and relationship with a maker IS an embellishment to this transaction.

A maker/buyer relationship, for a collector (who is savvy and in this for a longer haul than a user), needs to be neutral at least and positive at best.

Negative vibes or rep, gets renown, and there are MANY other great choices. Move along....

In the end you ARE taking home the maker: That knife is a representation of their work, and symbolic of the transaction. Every time you look, handle, or use it.

Salesmanship 101 places utmost importance on setting up good first and lasting impressions.

The more a maker is visible and communicating in a positive manner, the more collectible their stock becomes.

Good thread!
 
PaulDiStefano said:
Your probably right.
Just right now when I think in my head about buying a custom knife, I personally would have to be absolutely in love with it to make a purchase and spend all that money. Now let’s say if I only liked a knife (not loved) and had this amazing interaction with a maker where we talked for hours and I really liked the maker, it still wouldn’t make me buy a knife I wasn’t in love with.
or even let’s say I had an amazing interaction with a maker and we were good friends and I owned one of his knives that I loved. If he was to never make a knife I was in love with again, I wouldn’t buy any more knives.

I guess maybe I could see some people being on the fence about a knife and then having a great interaction and that pushing them over into making the purchase. But to me that’s a little more of supporting someone and buying their work because you like them and not because it speaks to you.

For now I don’t feel any interaction could make me love and enjoy a knife anymore then I already thought I would at first glance without exchanging any words.
But I say all of this as an inexperienced collector and my thoughts could very well change. After all, I hear most people talk about their interactions with the makers as being a top reason they make a purchase.
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For me there are two levels to potential interactions. The first is when the knife is already made and on the table. Then I agree that the interaction and experience has less potential although is still important. The second is when you keep seeing amazing stuff from a maker until you feel compelled to contact them. If that interaction turns into a project where you go back and forth having a bit of input into something made specially for you, well that's unbeatable.
 
Richard338 said:
For me there are two levels to potential interactions. The first is when the knife is already made and on the table. Then I agree that the interaction and experience has less potential although is still important. The second is when you keep seeing amazing stuff from a maker until you feel compelled to contact them. If that interaction turns into a project where you go back and forth having a bit of input into something made specially for you, well that's unbeatable.
Click to expand...

Richard, can you tell me a bit about what your expectations are when contacting a maker to have something made? Do you have something designed in your head that you want the maker to execute or are you personalizing to some degree a model the maker has made before? Are you adamant that modifications be made to your specs or do you rely heavily on the instincts of the maker?

I have had instances where a customer has contacted me regarding a knife of mine they have seen and want a copy made. And although I try to encourage them to personalize the piece by changing materials or some other aspect to make it more special for them, they lack the vision and just want one like the one they saw. Other times I might get a client that keeps adding request upon request for additional details and changes. This can get tricky. You want to give the client what they want but two things happen. One is that endless changes drag out the project and delay getting started in earnest on the job. The other is that the client becomes the designer which can take the fun and inspiration out of the project. Then you are just making other people's designs. So what are your expectations when contacting a maker to have a knife made? Would it turn you off on a maker if he prefered to keep closer to his own designs?
 
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