Whose knives appreciate ?

C

contender

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In your opinion, which makers knives appreciate in value ? In my experience I have seen it occur with very few makers - specifically some of Ken Onion's pieces and most of Busse Combat's blades.

Are there any others? Perhaps some custom makers like Ralph Selvidio or others?
 
Well I would bet if you bought a basic Loveless drop point for about $1500 it would never drop in value and after a few years would be worth quite a bit more than what you paid for it. Same thing for something from Bill Moran.

I have also noticed that Ed Fowlers knives have been selling for more than the price that he asks for new ones. Another makers knives that seem to increase in value are Al Pendray's wootz damascus knives. This goes for custom Emerson knives and Onions as well.

Randall knives never seem to go down in value either and seem to be the most likely candidates from the production knives to go up in value. Busse and Strider knives are also good possibilities for going up. Many of the slipjoints that are out there will also increase in worth over the next 5 to 10 years.
 
Great question.
From what I've observed there are very, very few whose knives appreciate, and a slightly larger group whose knives hold their initial sale value (Tom Mayo and Kit Carson come to mind).
As mentioned above, a Loveless will continue to appreciate, as will an S.R. Johnson, Fowler, and most of the Mastersmith blades.
But don't listen to me...I don't think I've EVER sold or traded a knife without losing money.
Keeps me busy, though! :D
-Paul
 
Walter Brend
 
Like kwm said,loveless and moran. plus ryan,and emerson. onions,too,i think.thats all i can think of at this moment.

lots of other knifemakers knives do hold their value for a long time,even with use.buy from the right guys,and its kinda like an insurance policy.
 
Busse
Busse
Busse !!!

sorry for my limited Vocabulary ! :rolleyes:
INFI Steel takes the cake right now; it's predominance in performance hasn't been outdone by any so far... And when the folks at Busse stop making a particular model, they don't bring it back into production again, so the rarity is secured. So is the investment, then...

Actually, i PREDICT (you heard it here first, folks!) that Neil Blackwood's flawless Knives WILL appreciate in value, at some point...
Also, since David Boye NO LONGER makes anything except folding Cobalt knives for boater/sailors, i suspect that ANYTHING made from him previously, will go up in value: they are no longer available from discount houses, etc. as of five months ago...:eek:
His old L6 etched knives are VERY rare, now...
His BDS [Boye Dendritic Steel] stuff sells on ebay (read: usually lower prices) for upwards of 400 smackers, at times! :eek: original pricing, below $100...
Nuclear Powered,
Climber Clif ___.-^-._.-^-._.-^-.___

Imagining
New
Funding
Investments
=
INFI
The INFI Acronymer Strikes Again! :D
 
On a related note, will a factory production knife ever increase in value? I'm talking about CRKT, MOD, Microtech, Benchmade, etc.
 
No factory knife will ever appreciate as much as a custom! Some of the best investments would be Loveless, McHenry or Williams, Davis, Lile, Lake, Walker, and other high end makers. It's like buying a 66 hemi barracudda for $3000 in 66 and have it still today worth $20,000. No chevy Nova ever appreciated that much!
 
That would have to be Busse's, Horn's, Onion's, Ryan's, Loveless, did I mention that discontinued Busse's are repeatedly through the roof.


edited for poor spelling
 
I would have to say Busse. Busses consistently and very quickly appreciate in value (special series like the ZT's for example, variants, and discontinued regular models-the Straight Handled knives for example :eek: ) . Busses make seriously sound investments, and they're not bad users either ;) :D
 
Please:rolleyes: :rolleyes: You are looking for major disappointment if you plan to retire on your knife investments. Just imagine if you put your money into the stock market in the early 80's when it was at about 1100 (Dow).

Buy knives because you like to collect fine examples of the best in craftsmanship from the many outstanding makers out there. Then enjoy the knives.

Some, as stated above, like Loveless, Moran, and a few others are the very, very rare exceptions. If you were lucky enough to have acquired some of those years ago, you have seen a major increase in value, and probably will continue to for the foreseeable future. This is the rare exception.

If you doubt this, speak to almost any really well-qualified investment analyst. Be very careful with any collectibles.
 
Busse's definitely hold their value, and some increase BIG TIME.
I bought a Busse Steel Heart E Quad Grind variant from Phil (2 the Hilt)
I paid Phil $675.00 for it, realize up till this time the most I ever paid for a knife was $298.00 for my straight handled Steel Heart II. He put it in the for sale forums here on Bladeforums 2/01. What is funny, I debated all night whether to buy it or not, because of the cost. It was still available the next day. So I begged my wife to buy it. She agreed, but she thought I was crazy.
So I buy the knife from Phil. Anyway, as soon as I got it, I started
receiving offers for it. Some offered what I paid. Then, I find out this is the only Quad grind that Jerry has made. As time went on, the offers got bigger. To make a long story short, I've been offered $1100 in cash, and more then that in trade!! It's not for sale!! I think that is a pretty good investment for a little over a year that I've had it.
Jerry makes some great production knives and they are Nuclear Tough!!!
Some of the older Busse's are going for ridiculous prices.
Figures, since they are what I am collecting. ;)

I'm not only a collector of Busse's, I'm a user too:D
 
Most of the custom knife makers that have been listed here have actually seen their prices start to level off.

If you buy a Loveless Drop Point for $1,800 today, five years from now it may sell for $2,200. Total of about a 22% return over 5 years. A decent Band CD will do that will less risk.

The guys you should be looking for are making knives right now. Someone brought up Ken Onion, Emerson (although his dated stuff is taking a beating in the after market...comparative to this time last year).

Carson, Brend, Chew, Tezuola, John W. Smith, Osborne, Chamblin, Bose, Fisk, Dean, B. Vallotton.

The list goes on and on. There are lots of opportunities to see a 5-100% gain in 6 months or less.

Do your homework and pick the right knife, at the right time, from the right maker.
 
so none of the production pieces ever appreciate? what about commemorative issues? Like gerber's Mk IIs for instance? there have been several commemorative issues of that knife. Or the FA commemoratives from Boker? :(

hmmm so I guess little folders that are out of production are not worth anything either huh? oh well... maybe my grandkids will find some value for them when their lightsabers run outta juice... but by then the built-in nuclear cell should last a lifetime... ;)

oh well...

:)
 
Before I give my opinion, let me say I am friends with the makers I will discuss. With that,let me also say I have been collecting since 97 and am considered a "knife nut" among other things. I can HONESTLY say I could sell the knives in my collection for more than I paid. There are many makers who's work I admire and desire, but as much as I love knives I do not like to THROW money away. I have settled on the following makers for my collection. Jerry Fisk, Roger
Massey, John Fitch and Vince Evans.

Let me explain why.

I know you've heard "Fisk is the next Moran." Well he IS! People talking is how ledgends are made. What he has done for the knife industry is indisputable. Knives are considered ART because of Jerry Fisk! His title of National Living Treasure HAS set him apart from all other makers. There will always be a market for Fisk knives.

As for Roger, to me he is THE present day D.E.Henry. His work is PERFECTION and FEW are made compared to other makers. That is what makes Henry's so valuable. You will never see a flaw on Roger's table.

John was taught by some of the best. His knives are very pleasing to the eye and hand. There are many makers who's work is like this. What sets him apart is DESIRE. Not just desire to be good but to be the best. The quality and complexity of his work is ever increasing and though I can't say he will be the best or not, I can say I believe his knives will appeciate as he progreses. He is going to go far.

What can I say about Vince? He is great! His work is phenomenal! You may not make alot of money on Vince's pieces but I will say this, YOU WILL ALWAYS GET MORE THAN YOU PAY. His work IS THE GREATEST VALUE I HAVE SEEN IN THE KNIFE INDUSTRY.PERIOD! He has told me, "I want whatever I sell to be worth more than the person pays." There are not many makers who can execute the work he does.

This is just my humble opinion and I hope you will take it as such.
 
Originally posted by Climber
... Also, since David Boye NO LONGER makes anything except folding Cobalt knives for boater/sailors, i suspect that ANYTHING made from him previously, will go up in value: they are no longer available from discount houses, etc. as of five months ago...:eek:
His old L6 etched knives are VERY rare, now...
His BDS [Boye Dendritic Steel] stuff sells on ebay (read: usually lower prices) for upwards of 400 smackers, at times! :eek: original pricing, below $100...
Click to expand...

What?!:eek:

No way! I've had a set of all three BDS knives in a drawer for years after buying all three as a set for $125.

Yikes... :cool:
 
My favorite sickeningly disgusting story (yes, I'm jealous ;)) is a good condition Randall model 1 Springfield that was found in an old box of knife sheaths in a pawn shop. I don't know what the owner paid for it, but the last price I saw bid for it when it was offered on eBay was around $2,500.

Knifenerd is right on the mark with his comment re: not betting your retirement on profit from knives. If you want capital growth, there are much better investments. I concur with his recommendation to buy knives you like, then enjoy using/fondling/collecting them. If you eventually sell them for as much (or more) than you paid for them, that's cool. But don't count on it. ;)
 
I would have to say Busse knives have an unbelievable appreciation rate. Every one of my straight handle Battle Mistresses are running at least several hundred dollars more than I paid for them.

Many companies like Microtech do appreciate, but I can't think of any that keep up with Busse, especially the vintage straight handle models.
 
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