Well…
I visited Chirs’s website today and he put brand new flute up for sale (immediately not after 10 years wait)
Here is his website
http://wilkesflutes.co.uk/Site/index.html
get in, click on FOR SALE
I dont have this much money 
That’s purty.
oh boy, what a class, really if anyone is continuing the Rudall&Rose tradition of making flutes for the royalty it must be him…
This has been sold.
Edited to say that I did not buy it.
Good lord…did someone actually buy Chris Wilkes? I thought that sort of thing went out of vogue two centuries ago.
my thoughts as well!
\
I’ve been a whore but I’ve never been a slave…
-Anon-
For various unrelated reasons, this has been the worst year I can remember.
Now, I think I’m going to cry… 
Congratulations to the buyer…
M
A beautiful flute - congratulations to the new owner. Wilkes flutes are the best
Steampacket Vizzini: "Wilkes flutes are the Best "
Inigo Bookbinder: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
P.S. In all seriousness, I hold Chris’ work in the highest esteem, and had this flute come available about 2 weeks earlier, I’d have snapped it up without a moment’s hesitation - something I’m not much inclined to do these days, being a one D flute guy for some time now. However I would nearly kill to get my hands on a good Wilkes flute (along with a keyed body for my Dogwood Olwell)
Never the less, I don’t think one can apply the term “Best” to any one particular flute. Best in what way(s)? Best for who? Etc., Etc.
Now if you were to say Chris Wilkes was " The most highly skilled, obsessive and perfectionistic wooden flute maker in the world", I’d certainly go along with that.
Loren
Whaddya know. I agree with Loren…
Bound to happen just by pure chance on occasion. 
Loren
::sits quietly in awe and reverence::
ya think the reverence thing was to far?
Only in light of the fact that it was enough to make you break your silence …
Loren
I wonder how much shorter Chris Wilkes’ waiting list would be if he concentrated on making flutes instead of centerpieces which happen to be flutes. Some of his flutes look like they belong at an 18th century coronation rather than a session. I’ll take the plain black with silver rings over those any day.
well it was kinda cute…wannit.
I honestly don’t think his waiting list would shorten considerably if he engine turned a few less rings and endcaps: Flute making is both a lifestyle and a philosophy (of work ethic), and one’s choices in those areas largely impact both delivery times and the quality of the end product.
The lifestyle part is easy enough for folks to understand: Most flutemakers like being able to work when, where, how often and for how long (each day, week, month and year) they choose.
The work ethic thing is something else entirely, something that most non-artesian/craftsman don’t have a perspective on: Particularly when it comes to the questions of “How good is good enough?” For yourself, for the customer, for your reputation, for simply completing the task, and so on. Much of what Chris and some of the other makers do, or don’t do, the vast majority of flute buyers will never know.
Just as an example: How long did the maker spend on the finishing of each tone hole? Many makers after drilling the tone holes, do some quick undercutting for tuning, a touch of sanding and that’s it - maybe a half hour or less to finish all the tone holes. Some don’t even go that far.
On the other end of the spectrum, another maker may spend and hour or more on each tone hole.
Likewise with a flute’s bore: Some makers are perfectly happy with the finish left by their reamers (and they may only ream once or twice), while others will ream multiple times over the course of a year to insure the minimum shrinkage, and then will spend a good hour or more working on bringing the bore to a mirror finish.
Of course the vast majority of customers don’t really care about all these little details, they just want a flute NOW, which is understandable, and to this end a number of flute makers are accomodating. Mr. Wilkes however is not one of them, it appears he will not be swayed by any expectations but his own, and those expectations, for every single piece of every single instrument he makes, are very high indeed. This is why it hardly matters if he engine turned a few less bands and endcaps.
Besides, where would the world of flutes be, without those lovely bits that Chris turns out, bits that no one else bothers to make? Surely it would be a loss to us all.
Loren
I don’t think that he makes flutes with volume in mind.
Don’t you mean “Quantity”? 
I imagine Chris does pay some mind to the volume his instruments will produce. 
Loren
Boys and squirrels, I cannot sit idly by and let some of the comments I’ve read on this thread pass without adding my two cents’ worth, which is free, and worth every penny.
I’ve visited most of the flute shops which get frequent mention on this site, and without a doubt Chris Wilkes is the most astonishing craftsman I’ve ever met. How can anyone quibble about his waiting list in the face of such artistry? What a specious comment, I know, but this is a man who is able to singlehandedly reproduce the kind of masterpiece that once took a whole team of craftsmen to fashion. Meanwhile, his prices are ludicrously low, by anyone’s standard.
I don’t want to speak for Chris, but my take on his philosophy is that he is only interested in making the finest recreations of top-of-the-range 19th century flutes, and he’s not too pressed about how long people have to wait to get them. Sure, he could lower his standards to increase the availability/affordability of his product, but how often have we seen that tactic fall on its face in the business world? Besides, Chris is the one who really has to be satisfied with the flute before it leaves the shop. A Wilkes flute is the Ne Plus Ultra of modern 19th-century reproduction flutes - if you don’t want the shiny bits, look elsewhere.
Rob