This still has to be an all time favorite of mine . I can spend hours looking at it . Also bet it’s gotta be one of the most hours you’ve spent on a knife ever ! At least of the ones I’ve seen .
Just can’t say enough about the workmanship. Your the man

Thanks
Kurt

Thanks Kurt,

Those were the days my Friend.

It was an honor to make that sort of work.

Here’s something that; if you stick with the info I present, will amaze you. I promise.

Start with this fact: A dollar doesn’t BUY as much as it used to. Why, is another entire story. I’d be happy to explain but I don’t want you to leave cause this conversation is interesting enough.

Let’s just start here. The difference between what you COULD BUY for $1 in 1982, and what you CAN BUY for $1 in 2020 ... is 2.74 times. So; in order to buy the same $1 of groceries in 2020 as you bought for $1 in 1982, you need $2.74. I use groceries because you may have that difference in your mind. I’ll bet you don’t EAT 2.74 times as much food as you did in 1982, but I’ll bet you realize that you PAY that much more for a shopping cart of food. Another quick example. Can you visualize that a medium grade house in 1982 may have cost $70k. And it’s not hard to imagine that a medium grade house today, will cost $192k. It’s not that the house has changed. It’s that the DOLLAR has shrunk. (Economics lecture but take it as 100% true and not debatable). BING “Compare $1 in 1982 to $1 in 2020. Here’s what you get ...



No mistake. If you convert the 1982 dollars to 2020 dollars, that it what I got. And for the skill and time involved, it was considered as an expensive knife (no doubt), but it was understandable. Nobody balked or thought either myself or the buyer were crazy. And now you see the problem with making equivalent work today. When I comment that a certain piece would have been five times the price in the 80’s, I’m not talking about the MARKET. I’m just talking what the FED has done to the Dollar.

I’ll continue later ... if anyone finds these topics interesting.

To continue to clarify:

It works backwards when you consider what you are selling your skill and labor for today. If so make a knife and put a price of $800 on it today. That is actually the “buying power” of $800 divided by our 2.75 inflation factor ... or $290.90. It’s like having that knife in 1982, and selling it for $290.90 then. That’s why the money doesn’t go anywhere now.

If you’ve never studied economics, you may well think I’m being silly. I’m not. The only way to see this straight is to really consider just what COULD you buy in 1982 for $800? A real decent motorcycle? A fine firearm? A Semester of College? Now think of what just those things would cost now. THERE is your comparison. The “things” would not be significantly different now. But if you come up guessing that they might be around 3X the price now ... Bingo. You are right.



Reference. Take note in 82-83, I could nearly buy a year of College for my $800. Certainly well beyond the Semester mark.

Now. To finally see the picture, consider me making a fine piece now. And asking $800 for it. Do you think I can take my $800 and go buy a Semester of College? The Average 2019-20 year was $9,000 for in State, State Colleges to $35,000 per Private Schools. So a Semester was $4,500 to $17,500 roughly.



Ok. In this BING POST ... we see two things. We see confirmation of what I have been explaining which has happened to the Dollar. In many references I looked at, they said the 1982 dollar buying power was approx 2.75X or $2.75 today. In this insert example, they have figured the 1982 dollar to 2020 dollar at approx 2.45X or $2.45 now.

The second thing in this insert pic is documenting that College has not been satisfied keeping up with inflation and bringing their year price to approx $24,000 but they have actually more than doubled the actual cost to around $50k. Not a principle you’ve seen at BPS I assure. Hah.

I really hope you are following. It couldn’t be more important to understanding pricing and value.

Gonna post this part

Briefly: WHY has this happened to the Dollar? Now - NO POLITICS! No Judgement. Example. What would happen if your checkbook was empty and you wrote a One Trillion Dollar Check. (And it didn’t bounce. The FED just declared that there was NOW another $1,000,000,000,000 dollars of American currency in existence. It makes it “less rare”. Makes it “worth less”. As if there were suddenly another one hundred thousand Barnes Knives laying in drawers around the world. Makes them less rare. Honest, that’s how it works.

So: wrapping up. When I made an $800 knife in 1982, it was like making a $2,200 knife now. When I make an $800 knife now, it is like making a knife for $290 knife in1982.

HONEST TO GOD!!!!

This is why I work so darned hard and get nowhere. I swear on a stack of Bibles. Ask any economist. None of this is smoke.

If you have a comment Id appreciate it. A question, I will answer.

Thank you for reading.
Sincerely

Gary

But, it doesn't have a bottle opener?

Nice!

Lon

Come on Lon
Twist off dude
Well it did come with a blue print though.
Here’s a couple close up’s you really can’t tell but it’s all Damascus steel !

Thanks
Kurt

Gary
I read through your points and it’s sad but true . Wages HAVE gone up in the world for most of us working stiffs but seems like your only ever posta have a dollar left at the end of every pay period after bills ! EVEN with duel household incomes .

Minimum wage 1980 = $3,10
Minimum wage 2020 = $9:45

Its terrible but you can’t make a living at that kinda wage . And we can’t even find workers that know how to read a tape measure!

Thanks
Kurt

If anybody’s coffee got cold, or they just weren’t into the math ... thing is this knife sold for $8,500 in 1982 (I thought I recalled - but I see Sept. 15th, 1981 in Kurt’s proposal paper). That would make the number spread even greater.

Part of the narrative of a piece like this is as follows: Once an artist sells a piece like this, it’s story switches to a new Author. Said new Author will greatly determine the future value of the piece. One way is to make sure their heirs understand the value of the work. If/when it’s later sold, it should be sold individually with its Provenance revealed. The danger of lost value comes from poor handling of Estates. A Collector who buys such a piece, will have quite a few others in the same Class. If the Heir chooses to accept a bid from a retail dealer for the “Whole Lot” or entire collection ... then 99% of the time the individual pieces will take a tremendous hit. Especially if the Collector didn’t make detailed notes or the new Heir doesn’t read the notes left. The collection of a lifetime of enjoyment can be swept up in an offer that sounds like a tidy sum for a windfall, but is actually a weak percentage of the Collection’s actual value. Keep clear notes and make certain your heir knows of a trusted dealer if they don’t share your love of the Art.

An artist does his best for previous Collectors by “Continuing to work” and adding to his “Body of Work”. The Artist can’t guarantee against someone foolishly selling off items at absurdly low prices and thus making everybody’s Collection take a hit.

I hope these tips and this discussion has been of interest.

Best
Gary

Gary,
Your math makes me want to cry.
This is so sadly true.

Scott

Well
It sure is a pretty knife.

Thanks
Kurt