Mine too. I confess a deep affection for silver things.
I love gold flutes. Sadly, my pocketbook doesn’t agree with me. I have a gold embouchure and riser on my silver flute, which gives me just a touch of the gold sound I love.
Dana
Mmm. The gold flute has such a wonderfully dark, rich tone. Perhaps I could justify one as a hedge against the next great depression. But, then I’d probably rather starve than sell it.
I always wanted a gold flute. Do you think Jeanne-Pierre Rampal & James Galway ever have garage sales? 
That’s neat about the gold risers. I’d never heard about those before. And it makes more sense to me than just a gold lip-plate, since the riser’s what connects to the actual tube …
Speaking of, I’m off to a gig on the lowly sterling model…have a great day!
cat.
If anyone wants a platinum (Burkart) flute with a rose gold embouchure and silver mechanism, I’ll let it go for $19,500 (about $6,000 less than retail).
Hey, Jessie –
I’ll trade you a Subaru for it.
No, wait. I need that. How about an 18-year-old horse? She’s great at teaching little ones to ride …
Oh, bummer. Guess I’m out of luck.
Nice flute, though! Not that I’d live up to it anyway … 
Guess I’ll just have to hang with Hi Yo Silver.
cat.
Cathy, don’t be too sad. Silver is still considered the traditional, optimum metal for Boehm flutes. Many players see it as being superior to gold, because of its brilliance and ease of projection.
Dana
Thanks, Dana. And after all, I’m spending all my money on Irish flutes & stuff these days anyway, so it’s not like I’d use it, really, except for the sheer joy of playing an ultra fabulous handcrafted every detail thought of smdkggielsk …
Oops. Sorry. Got lost in a reverie, there. 
Wow, this obsession never really does go away, does it? 
Actually, I agree about the silver flute. That bit of gold in the headjoint did make a difference to me, but then the riser is really where the tone is produced. I don’t think I’d spend the money on a gold instrument, even if I had the extra cash lying around. Fortunately, I don’t have to make that decision.
What I’m trying to decide on is an Irish flute.
For me the magic combination is a metal body and a wooden head. I don’t care what metal it’s made of, as long as the mechanism moves nicely and without fuss, and doesn’t get knocked out of adjustment easily.
Interesting, will you say more about why?
You asking me or someone else?
If me: because that’s what i play. I think most of the sound of a flute is in the head. If you have a flute that has a good mechanism, and you like it, instead of replacing the flute think of getting a handmade head. I like wood because there are so many possibilities, so much more variation than with metal heads. But there are a lot of great metal heads to be had too.
Would it be nice to have a whole wood flute? Well, sure, but that costs $5000 or more, and i can have a great wood head for $750.
I use for my flute: Mark Hoza (i see he lowered his prices); for my piccolo: Eldred Spell. Especially if you have, say, a $1200 wooden piccolo, an Eldred Spell head is a better investment than a professional instrument that may cost you $10K. A Hoza head may fit you nicely too.
IMHO, of course, and YMMV, IANAL, etc. 
You can listen to samples of me playing the Mark Hoza head on his Web site. If you do, try to get him to spell my name right! :roll:
g
I agree. A few makers of really good wood heads are Peter Noy, Powell company, and Chris Abell.
I have long though that Full Circle headjoints look wonderful; you’re guaranteed not to get a modern head just made of wood this way.
http://www.headjoints.com
They are available for a very competitive price from Woodwind and Brasswind.
I agree with Glauber that wood and metal (in a Boehm flute) is a terrific combination.
I have a Spell head for my old Powell piccolo. His headjoints are amazing. (I don’t know of any professional piccs selling for $10K however. Most run about half that, thank goodness.
Dana
Yes, I was asking you, Glauber.
I’m interested in this.
What’s the advantage over a keyed
wooden simple system?
Also with Boehm fingering, can
you do the ornamentation
as well? Do you have open hole
keys?
Well, I am not glauber, but I will address this anyway.
Yes, you can do the ornamentation. Listen to Joanie, who plays on a silver Boehm flute.
One advantage of a Boehm flute is that the fingering for anything other than the D scale is MUCH easier on a Boehm than a keyed simple system. Another is that you can get a well-playing Boehm flute immediately and you have to wait quite a while for the very good keyed simple-system flutes. Another: it is easier on a Boehm to be lazy with embouchure and still get a rich sound.
Disadvantage: top of the line wooden Boehm flutes cost $11,000. Another disadvantage: it is a bit more tricky to get the trad reedy honking sound on a Boehm. Another: you are one step further away from the music. Even with an open-hole Boehm flute, the mechanism does the changing of notes. A simple system flute feels somehow more intimate.
I have a Powell blackwood Boehm flute that I absolutely love. Its richness in unmatched in any other flute of any type (that I have encountered). Still, I prefer to play simple system flutes (when in the keys of D or G major, and A or E minor).
OK, I listened to you on Mark H’s cite; lovely
playing, you mad Brazilian, you! Understand
better what you’re up to. Thanks.
Nice playing, Glauber! Good heavens, you have to have a Boehm system to play that chromatically with any ease. 
Thanks, Jessie. A friend I very seldom see has
a Chris Abell blackwood Boehm, which sounds
very good. But she doesn’t play it much
these days. Hers has no open holes.
She said she has small hands and
the open holes require keys to be
spaced farther apart. Anyhow, how
big a disadvantage are closed holes
for the music we play?
It rather sounds like a way to go is an adequate
Boehm flute with a wooden head…I think
that’s what Glauber was saying.