Not really sure the analogy rings true either. The Stradivari violin was known in its time as having excellent sound; the best, and they were made with the technology of the time period. The makers are dead (yes not all of the current Stradivari violins were made by Antonio :wink: ), so no more from that source. Since the supply is limited and folks for a long time could not equal the sound, the value continues to rise. The highest price so far (iirc) is 3.6 million dollars. :shocked2:
A new maker did not appear to match the quality of Stradivari for a long time and some say such a maker of equal skill has yet to appear. Scientists have actually studied Stradivari violins to try and determine what exactly was the "secret" of the making of those violins. There are several theories, but no actual conclusive determination on how the Stradivari family made them.
Now the "price" of a custom longrifle is very subjective. It's not simply the embellishments that determine the price, but this appears to be the premise of the thread.
One could, for example, provide a good barrel, and lock, and hardware, and have a heavily embellished, custom fitted stock made and finished into a rifle with those metal parts, and pay many thousands of dollars, and shoot the rifle once a year on one's birthday (or other such anniversary). Otherwise the rifle is admired as a top-of-the-line example of the rifle carving and inlaying art. Perhaps it wouldn't be shot, though it does shoot, only admired.
Another person might pay the same price, but might buy an only slightly embellished rifle, but all of the hardware from barrel to stock to additional parts were hand made using documented techniques, and actual tools, at an existing historic site, and the result was a documentary piece that copies an existing original.
So one owner says his is the most valuable, as his is the pinnacle of the current carving and inlaying art, and the other owner says his is the most valuable as his is the purest, most authentic copy, of an original rifle made to date....,
The bottom line on value is what folks are willing to pay, plus what lengths the artist is willing to go to produce the item.
Say some fellow figures out how Stradivai did it, but it's a pain in the arse and takes him 6 months per instrument..., and the guy can only get $10,000 for his work, even though all the experts agree that the guy cracked the secret..., and the guy has huge bills so sacrificing 1/2 a year's pay from his day job for a $10,000 return won't work for him. Then a world renown violinist loses his Stradivari in a fire, and nobody is willing to part with any of the remaining ones, so since he's a multi-millionaire, and can't live nor perform without the proper sound, he looks up our modern master maker of violins, and offers $500,000 for one to be made. Suddenly the price willing to be paid has surpassed the trouble involved, and the modern master maker is in business.
Subjective. :wink:
LD
A new maker did not appear to match the quality of Stradivari for a long time and some say such a maker of equal skill has yet to appear. Scientists have actually studied Stradivari violins to try and determine what exactly was the "secret" of the making of those violins. There are several theories, but no actual conclusive determination on how the Stradivari family made them.
Now the "price" of a custom longrifle is very subjective. It's not simply the embellishments that determine the price, but this appears to be the premise of the thread.
One could, for example, provide a good barrel, and lock, and hardware, and have a heavily embellished, custom fitted stock made and finished into a rifle with those metal parts, and pay many thousands of dollars, and shoot the rifle once a year on one's birthday (or other such anniversary). Otherwise the rifle is admired as a top-of-the-line example of the rifle carving and inlaying art. Perhaps it wouldn't be shot, though it does shoot, only admired.
Another person might pay the same price, but might buy an only slightly embellished rifle, but all of the hardware from barrel to stock to additional parts were hand made using documented techniques, and actual tools, at an existing historic site, and the result was a documentary piece that copies an existing original.
So one owner says his is the most valuable, as his is the pinnacle of the current carving and inlaying art, and the other owner says his is the most valuable as his is the purest, most authentic copy, of an original rifle made to date....,
The bottom line on value is what folks are willing to pay, plus what lengths the artist is willing to go to produce the item.
Say some fellow figures out how Stradivai did it, but it's a pain in the arse and takes him 6 months per instrument..., and the guy can only get $10,000 for his work, even though all the experts agree that the guy cracked the secret..., and the guy has huge bills so sacrificing 1/2 a year's pay from his day job for a $10,000 return won't work for him. Then a world renown violinist loses his Stradivari in a fire, and nobody is willing to part with any of the remaining ones, so since he's a multi-millionaire, and can't live nor perform without the proper sound, he looks up our modern master maker of violins, and offers $500,000 for one to be made. Suddenly the price willing to be paid has surpassed the trouble involved, and the modern master maker is in business.
Subjective. :wink:
LD
