Whoopee; A Moran Sells for $27,000

Kevin Jones

Kevin Jones

Joined
Oct 28, 2006
Messages
13,363
Seems like some are surprised and even thrilled (including me) that a very nice Moran recently sold very quickly for $27,000 on Nordic.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=611334
http://www.nordicknives.com/GenGAL1.php?id=4846

As Bill Moran contributed so much of his life to the betterment of custom knives, it’s great to see his pieces trade in the +$25,000 arena. :thumbup:

Though this is a step in the right direction IMO, it perhaps shows where custom knives fall in the pecking order among other collectibles in regard to financial significance.

If a collectible art object, stamp, book, watch, clock, gun, document, pen, car, motorcycle, vase, porcelain, furniture, jewelry, musical instruments, sports memorabilia (I could probably fill the page) would sell for $27,000 (though a lot of $$$) it most likely wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow in their communities where though perhaps not routinely but fairly often examples sell in upwards of six figures, to hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars.

• Why do you feel (if in fact you do) that in general, the most desired custom knives fall far below in dollar value as compared to representative examples in the other collectible medium such as mentioned above?

• Do you see custom knife values appreciating especially on the rare or very significant pieces as a positive thing or rather a negative thing as it possibly reduces your ability to buy some knives?

• Do you think collectors in general place too much significance on a collectible’s return on investment?

• Are you surprised the market for higher end custom knives is strong in spite of the poor economy? A few here predicted this would happen some time ago.

As always, thank you in advance for your views, opinions and participation. :)
 
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• Why do you feel (if in fact you do) that in general, the most desired custom knives fall below in dollar value as compared to representative examples in the other collectible medium such as mentioned above?
I think this is primarly because of the size of the collectorsbase and the fact that knives are not "established" collectables

• Do you see custom knife values appreciating especially on the rare or very significant pieces as a positive thing or rather a negative thing as it possibly reduces your ability to buy some knives?
If this happens for the higher end pieces one can expect it to happen for the other price categories also.

• Do you think collectors in general place too much significance on a collectible’s return on investment?
I think that not nearly enough collectors place significance to ROI.

• Are you surprised the market for higher end custom knives is strong in spite of the poor economy? A few here predicted this would happen some time ago.
No I'm not surprised at all.

Marcel
 
Lycosa said:
I dropped out at $2,600.
:)
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Yes, me too. :eek: ;)

It's probably only a handful (if that) who frequent this forum that purchase knives in the $25,000+ range, however as Marcel stated, what's paid for those ultra high-end knives ultimitly affects (depending on how you look at it) how much we have to pay for the knives we buy :grumpy: :thumbdn: or how much our collections appreciate in value. :) :thumbup:
 
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Honestly, I'm super happy for the buyer and the seller, but I don't know to what extent this means anything. To start with, I don't know how much this piece would have fetched 2 years ago - so I cannot say if $27k is a good price or not. It seems like a very healthy price to me, but I simply am not knowledgeable about these. Second and more important, I suspect that sales at this level mean very little to the knives I collect.

The reason why knives are not gravitating where some other crafts are is that they are collected by knife collectors, not art collectors.

Personally I value some price volatility as it allows me to buy when they are low and sell when they are high. Over the long run, I'd rather see price appreciates moderately year over year. Bubbles I fear are very destructive and the knife market isn't immune to them.
 
Joss said:
The reason why knives are not gravitating where some other crafts are is that they are collected by knife collectors, not art collectors.
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True........but if they ever catch on like vintage guitars did, WATCH OUT!!!!!:eek:
 
Kevin Jones said:
Seems like some are surprised and even thrilled (including me) that a very nice Moran recently sold very quickly for $27,000 on Nordic.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=611334
http://www.nordicknives.com/GenGAL1.php?id=4846

As Bill Moran contributed so much of his life to the betterment of custom knives, it’s great to see his pieces trade in the +$25,000 arena. :thumbup:

Though this is a step in the right direction IMO, it perhaps shows where custom knives fall in the pecking order among other collectibles in regard to financial significance.

If a collectible art object, stamp, book, watch, clock, gun, document, pen, car, motorcycle, vase, porcelain, furniture, jewelry, musical instruments, sports memorabilia (I could probably fill the page) would sell for $27,000 (though a lot of $$$) it most likely wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow in their communities where though perhaps not routinely but fairly often examples sell in upwards of six figures, to hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars.

• Why do you feel (if in fact you do) that in general, the most desired custom knives fall far below in dollar value as compared to representative examples in the other collectible medium such as mentioned above?

There is a stigma associated with knives that limits the number of people that will be interested in collecting them. This is also the case with guns, but for some reason there is more interest in collecting them.

• Do you see custom knife values appreciating especially on the rare or very significant pieces as a positive thing or rather a negative thing as it possibly reduces your ability to buy some knives?

It's good for the industry. If I have to pay more, then it will just mean that I will purchase fewer knives.


• Do you think collectors in general place too much significance on a collectible’s return on investment?

No. I don't think very many collectors do place a lot of significance on ROI.

• Are you surprised the market for higher end custom knives is strong in spite of the poor economy? A few here predicted this would happen some time ago.

I'm not surprised about what I have read, but I have not gotten a good idea of what the market for high end knives is like as a whole. Do we know that they are doing really well overall? How do we know this?
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..........
 
Kevin Jones said:
I totally agree with you guys. We are starting to see respected mainstream publications run articles on custom knives. If this trend continues it could provide the spark we need to take custom knives to the next level.

Example: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/24/081124fa_fact_oppenheimer
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I saw an article the other day that referred to companies like Randall, Lile, CRK and William Henry using a new term. For the life of me, i cannot remember the exact term, which was something like "custom knife firm" or "company" Now some on here might cringe at the use of "custom" in reference to such companies and their products, but the fact of the matter is that the William Henry's of the world may have the ability to help make pricier knives "respectable collectables" with the average person with a goodly amount of disposable income once again. I like that term.......just made it up:D The downside is that people may become exclusive William Henry collectors just like the legion of exclusive Randall collectors. But at least now we know that this could be an issue and we can endeavor to educate this folks reagrding the rest of the high end knife market.:thumbup:
 
I've got a photo of Bill at the forge in a frame with his autograph underneath titled "perserverence". This would make him proud.
 
I just checked them out...a tad out of my price range. Where is the lottery when you need one:D;)

Marcel
 
Kevin Jones said:
These Warenski's will be interesting to watch. :eek:

Any predictions as to how long these will stay on the market, or as to if they will sell?
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I think they will both sell, but don't know for how much, or when.

Fire and Ice is actually a pretty fair priced knife, considering the provenance.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
I think they will both sell, but don't know for how much, or when.

Fire and Ice is actually a pretty fair priced knife, considering the provenance.
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STeven I agree but what surprises me (a bit) is that knives like these are offered on the open market. I would assume that these knives would be offered to the "usual suspects" first because I think that there aren't that many real knife aficionados that can afford this.

Could this raise the question of how the market is right now again:D;)

Marcel
 
Marcel54 said:
STeven I agree but what surprises me (a bit) is that knives like these are offered on the open market. I would assume that these knives would be offered to the "usual suspects" first because I think that there aren't that many real knife aficionados that can afford this.

Could this raise the question of how the market is right now again:D;)

Marcel
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Perhaps they already have been. ;)
 
Kevin Jones said:
Perhaps they already have been. ;)
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They indeed have been. Fire and Ice was on display and offered by Julie at the first Art Knife Invitational I attended in 2005.

There are a LOT of buyers using the internet, and specific dealers, to obtain certain types of knives. Dave Ellis can attest to this.

With this type of high dollar piece, which really defies a strict definition for the collector, it is best to cast a wide net.

It really doesn't indicate where the market is at, Marcel...as there have only been 3 Warenski Legacy knives, it would take a very unique kind of collector to want one and be in a position to easily afford it.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Umm.. wow! So when you buy one does it come with a home security system and a giant safe?
 
Suffice to say that anyone who would buy either of those pieces already has a state of the art security system and a safe likely containing other items of equal or greater value.:D
 
Kohai999 said:
They indeed have been. Fire and Ice was on display and offered by Julie at the first Art Knife Invitational I attended in 2005.

There are a LOT of buyers using the internet, and specific dealers, to obtain certain types of knives. Dave Ellis can attest to this.

With this type of high dollar piece, which really defies a strict definition for the collector, it is best to cast a wide net.

It really doesn't indicate where the market is at, Marcel...as there have only been 3 Warenski Legacy knives, it would take a very unique kind of collector to want one and be in a position to easily afford it.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
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STeven........where does the Tut dagger currently reside? On these pieces, is the drastic price difference strictly an issue of the cost of the stones that Buster used?
 
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