At what point Fancy User stops being user and becomes full Art Collector?

W

Wolf7

Joined
Jul 11, 2006
Messages
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Had a Eureka moment while chasing LE ZT0606 on secondary market, for price they are asking I can order perfect for me full custom build up to my specs knife for same price!

Now I'm trying to figure out which type to order
1. Practical Tactical - CF & Titanium - $500+
2. Fancy User - Ironwood scales with Mikute Bolsters with rope file work on blue+gold anodized milled/drilled out liners & back spacer - $500-$1K
3. Fancy Collector - Ironwood scales enclosed in single piece Titanium Engraved bolsters with file work on blue+gold anodized milled/drilled out liners and back spacer -$1-$2K

Here is a dilemma, I'm user not collector and normally go for Practical Tactical black on black or silver and CF BUT if I'm going to order perfect full custom for a lot of money I think it would be better to make it Fancy User!

At what point/criteria Fancy User stops being a user and becomes full on Fancy Art Collector?

I think I narrowed it down to detailed, intricate artwork engraving & non-user friendly materials ex: pearl scales, carbon Damascus steel etc.
Do you guys agree with my assessment?

Here is an example of Fancy User - it has intricate but simple artwork engraving with wood scales.
https://goo.gl/images/b9DCP5
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https://goo.gl/images/sksPsq
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Here is an example of Fancy Art Collector - it has intricate, detailed complex artwork engraving with carbon Damascus which as I understand it need frequent oiling/maintenance
https://goo.gl/images/AUViWw
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https://goo.gl/images/JnZVxN
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https://goo.gl/images/0TzB6o
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https://goo.gl/images/ZGk7mY
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https://goo.gl/images/Tp4qbh
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Here is an example of Fancy User/Art Collector it's right on the tipping point fancy engraved handle yet satin stailess very user friendly blade
https://goo.gl/images/7RSLK0
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https://goo.gl/images/Tp4qbh Fancy User Or Art Collector?
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https://goo.gl/images/Tf1UO4 Art Collector or Fancy User?
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https://goo.gl/images/bisrxI Fancy Users?
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https://goo.gl/images/mYml7u Collector or User?
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Need your help looking to order Classic Wayfarer that will look like this, is it still Fancy User or Full Art Collector?
https://goo.gl/images/yss7wC
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https://goo.gl/images/ckcDKK
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This is the closest design to what I envision in my head!
User or Collector???

https://goo.gl/images/6rpQNh
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PS for more knife porn check out this makers instagram https://www.instagram.com/olamic/ especially Fancy Users with wood scales, I seen similar versions in NYC Metropolitan Museum of Art in their Weapons Display Wing, they were made over 500 years ago!
PPS I'm definitely going to order from second category Fancy User or as I like to call them Modern Urban Gentlemen Dress Classy/Classic Tactical Folder!
 
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Typically, art knives aren't the run-of-the-mill "tactical" patterns that we see so often. You can take a ZT and dress it up with exotic materials and engravings, but at the end of the day it's still a "tactical" pattern (bearings, flipper, aggressive aesthetics, etc.). Many art knives I see are based upon more "classical" patterns.

Just buy what you like and use what you like. If your "user knife" is made by Wolfgang Loerchner, then that's your choice to do so.
 
Yeah, totally subjective. One of my friends has a safe queen Damascus Skyline. Can't bring himself to use the thing despite the fact that his EDC is an Endura that almost certainly cost just as much. For myself, I'm not exactly sure where the line would be, I honestly really like the concept of knives as art, but I still can't bring myself to buy anything I wouldn't use.
 
Insipid Moniker said:
Yeah, totally subjective. One of my friends has a safe queen Damascus Skyline. Can't bring himself to use the thing despite the fact that his EDC is an Endura that almost certainly cost just as much. For myself, I'm not exactly sure where the line would be, I honestly really like the concept of knives as art, but I still can't bring myself to buy anything I wouldn't use.
Click to expand...

I've gotten rid of all the knives I wouldn't, don't, or haven't used. Art knives are fine to look at in pictures....a lot like pictures are nice to look at as pictures or paintings.
 
Honestly, I went through about 2/3 of your picture links and did not see one knife I think was under $1000 - and many were likely much more.

Nothing wrong with fancy, and all of the knives you posted look like they would be fine users; most of the really good makers knives are made to the quality to use, without regard to if they expect them to be used.

Go get yourself something and then use it and enjoy it.

No sense having something stuck in a closet because it is too nice to use, unless you are a speculator or have a museum or private display, and nothing wrong with that either.

Thanks for all the links - good stuff there.

best

mqqn
 
I'd look a bit deeper at custom users. Check out the Knifemaker forums here and you'll see some awesome blades.
 
Yeah usually I don't buy stuff if I don't intend to use it but there are some knives that are just too sweet to miss out on. If I ever got the $2500 Shirogorov that I like (F3CF - custom division model), I don't think I could ever bring myself to use it.
 
If it is practical for me to use and carry, I will. I've pocket carried and used my new ZT-0999 half the days it has been in my possession.

I have a Riverside - Bob Loveless Stag Drop Point Hunter I'm told to value in the mid 4 digit range. It never sees the light of day, not due to its value, but because it isn't a knife that is practical for me to carry and use daily.

Today I am carrying a G2 Custom Kwaiken which is a hand built custom knife with CPM154 which can be had for less than $400.

Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk
 
At the very moment a company like ZT designs a bulky thick bladed folder for looks over function, a so called knife that is basically just a paperweight.
 
At what point? When ZT produces any LE run, if some are to be believed. ;)

No, but seriously, I just classify any knife I would not use as an art knife. And there are a lot out there. I try never to buy one I won't use and get rid of those I haven't used in some time, sometimes even gifting them away to pare down the collection.

(I don't actually own or have interest in ZT LE runs at the moment, a bit of a joke as I'm seen some interesting threads the past few days.)

I remember once in some knife catalog, there was a set of knives that I think included ivory... fancy folders at $11,000 for the set, I think. As a kid, that was my first glimpse of knives that were art. And I wouldn't have paid $50 for the lot of them.
 
Friends, I think we are getting slightly off topic!
The question is:
To determine as logically as possible at what point user stops being user and becomes collector for you?
What criteria do you use to decide if a given knife is a Fancy User or Art Collector?
To me it's based on mostly artwork and materials.
What about you?
ex: price, materials, artwork, maker, exclusivity, etc.

For me for very long time it was mostly based on price, anything over $250 was not a user and I would not buy it.
But over the years I have grown up the price scale (BM's, SOG's, ZT's) up to my current most expensive knife that I own and use LE ZT0600.
Now I know the kind of quality I get for this price point, I no longer can base my decisions user or collector on that criteria alone.

Since I'm not a millionaire price does matter BUT it is not sole criteria to base my decision on.
 
craytab said:
I've gotten rid of all the knives I wouldn't, don't, or haven't used. Art knives are fine to look at in pictures....a lot like pictures are nice to look at as pictures or paintings.
Click to expand...

I just went through this as well.

If I am not gonna use it, I am not gonna own it....

At some point having a bunch of pretty knives lying around stopped making sense.
 
Price is a partial factor for me, another is intended use. I won't BS I like collecting "wicked" fighting style knives I have no use for other than that I just enjoy them, they typically don't see a lot of utility use, and the nicer ones I have in that category are safe queens. Another criteria for me as you mentioned is exclusivity. If I can't replace it either gets sold or I don't use it. I have a couple very sentimental knives I don't use either.
 
If you are asked by average person to explain to them difference between Fancy User and Art Collector type, how would you explain it, based on what criteria?
 
Deceased/retired maker and a return on initial investment if sold used.

Those are all I can think of.
 
Whoa . . .

That is a lot of stuff to look through.
Before I do I would say :

And I am pretty adamant about it . . .

At what point/criteria Fancy User stops being a user and becomes full on Fancy Art Collector?
Click to expand...

When the blade . . . say a blade three to four inches long . . . goes past three millimeters in thickness (for me 2.5 really but that would eliminate about every knife on the planet) .

So yah. Five mm, six mm . . . that is a paper weight (art object) to sit on the desk and keep things from blowing around when one opens the window for a little fresh air. Not a tool for cutting stuff . . . unless it comes with a good sized ball pean hammer to drive it through your work with.

And I put my grinder where my mouth is; I have ground five mm blades down to two point five (usually two mm) to make them useful.
These poor people have had to look at the photos so many times I won't subject you all to them yet again.
 
I perceive Art on exclusivity and uniqueness.

I am lucky enough to be able to work closely with some very good knifemakers, and we design together some stuff. I provide ideas, some materials like exotic woods, then they do their magic. they are the Artists, I'm a mere sponsor =)
My concepts are not necessary super practical -contrary to the production knives I buy- but I definitely consider them as an Art form.

x78b8mwm.jpg



Minus the excellent convex grind cleaver:

egKDknX.jpg
 
Wolf7 said:
If you are asked by average person to explain to them difference between Fancy User and Art Collector type, how would you explain it, based on what criteria?
Click to expand...

It is based partially on price, but it's not like "a knife over x is an art knife for me." I simply don't have the funds to sink into a knife over x amount anyway, so even if it is very utilitarian, I won't get it. That doesn't mean I'd say it is an art knife just because I can't afford it though. More often, if it "looks" useful, or looks less useful. And sometimes, out on a subjective limb, even a knife that just doesn't look like one I would use.

Take the photo set above. The first knife posted is, for me, an art knife, despite what is probably a useful looking wharncliffe style blade. It is not a knife I would choose to pick up and use, therefore it is an art knife.

The rest of the knives in that photo, I can totally see pick up and using, even the two bottom ones that definitely look more "artsy." Therefore, not art knives, though the case could be made that they are.

In short, if explaining to someone who asked: "Any knife I will not pick up and use for its intended purpose." And that covers a broad range of knives including many, many knives that others would find very useful tools.
 
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