Future value of handmade pens ?

[sanyalsoumitra]

I was surfing results about vintage pens. One thought came to mind after seeing so many branded vintage pens and almost no unbranded handmade pens in the listings - that is, would all these expensive and beautiful Handmade kit-less and Kit pens sold in the present day and recent past , ever attain any future value ?? Why is it that we only see branded pens in the vintage list? Please, some one guide us to this.

Best regards
Soumitra

 

[jimjam66]

Soumitra, the very function of a brand is to allow the observer to 'attach a value' to something. So if it's a Mercedes it is better than a Ford (even if you haven't actually SEEN either).

Unbranded pens (by which I think you mean not-so-well-known branded pens) are an unknown quantity on the vintage market, so they will have to be seen, handled, tested, examined before a value can be attached to them. First off this is difficult in the internet age, because most exchanges are virtual these days. Secondly, the vast majority of fountain pen aficionados are nowhere near as knowledgeable as they think the are - they will buy the 'brand' because that gives them the most kudos. "Look, I use a MontBlanc/Waterman/Montegrappa vintage pen - I MUST be an expert!"

So the short answer is Yes, our pens are not likely to top the list of vintage pens on offer when we are pushing up daisies UNLESS we manage to leverage our brand into something bigger a la Richard Binder or Edison Pens. But our pens can become cherished family heirlooms for generations to come.

 

[sanyalsoumitra]

Soumitra, the very function of a brand is to allow the observer to 'attach a value' to something. So if it's a Mercedes it is better than a Ford (even if you haven't actually SEEN either).

Unbranded pens (by which I think you mean not-so-well-known branded pens) are an unknown quantity on the vintage market, so they will have to be seen, handled, tested, examined before a value can be attached to them. First off this is difficult in the internet age, because most exchanges are virtual these days. Secondly, the vast majority of fountain pen aficionados are nowhere near as knowledgeable as they think the are - they will buy the 'brand' because that gives them the most kudos. "Look, I use a MontBlanc/Waterman/Montegrappa vintage pen - I MUST be an expert!"

So the short answer is Yes, our pens are not likely to top the list of vintage pens on offer when we are pushing up daisies UNLESS we manage to leverage our brand into something bigger a la Richard Binder or Edison Pens. But our pens can become cherished family heirlooms for generations to come.

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I do fully concur with this view. More over I have noticed one more restriction in the Kit-pen [ even in the kit less pens ] scenario - I as a pen maker am adding a wooden/acrylic skin on hardware manufactured by another firm [ in kit-less pens too, I am able to add body to a nib unit made by a famous brand]. Guess , in both cases, there would be a leagal restriction in giving a brand-name to the final product, even though no one would object to a few private level sales of similar items.

So, lack of brand name prospect creates the loss of identity once the first sale is over.