Olwell 6 key cocus wood flute on E-bay

There is an Olwell 6 key cocus wood flute with sterling silver keys, rings, and head joint lining on E-bay now. Nicholson model. Looks very nice, bid at will for the next 9 days.
eBay item number:11484559703:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/114845597031?hash=item1abd54bd67:g:Ll8AAOSwCrVgwiIh

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!

Gorgeous! Aaron says he´s been playing this one for a year, and both tweaking the embouchure and refining the bore. I note the tenon joints have metal caps, but can´t tell if the joint sockets have metal cups.

Bob

You better make sure you’re not allergic to cocuswood before placing a bid :boggle: :laughing:

Just have Aaron install a lip plate. In for a penny, in for a pound…

Sure, but if you don’t live in the US it’s not that simple :wink: Even if you only ship back the headjoint, dealing with export/re-import to avoid having to pay custom duties twice can be a real pain, and I talk from first-hand experience. :frowning:

Let’s say you make the winning bid. Isn’t there a way to have contact with Olwell et fils to request the modification prior to the thing being sent?

Hence my initial comment :slight_smile: If you know you’re allergic to cocus, I’d expect the Olwell’s would be happy to add a lip plate for you, but it would be wise to make sure of that before you get the flute.

I wasn’t trying to discourage anyone from bidding, it’s just that I got an antique flute from the US last year and discovered on that occasion that I was allergic to cocus, so I can’t imagine what my reaction would have been if it had been a flute worth $7-8k.

Anyway, I’ll sit this one out and watch… :smiley:

Understood. But making sure is hard to do when you don’t have any priors; very often sensitization is a matter of exposure over time, as in my case. If I bought this flute decades ago (there’s a space-time thought experiment for those of you brave enough to twist your minds around) I wouldn’t have any issues until about ten years had passed. What I’m suggesting is a preemptive measure just in case. Besides, a lip plate looks snappy - kind of like a bow tie on a tux.

19 bids. Sold for £6886.86 + £162,92 postage. (81,732 Swedish crowns) (€8008) ($9502)

I’ve been out of the loop for too long, but is it what these birthday Olwell’s usually go for? :confused: This one only has 6 keys :open_mouth:

"I’ve been out of the loop for too long, but is it what these birthday Olwell’s usually go for? > :confused: > This one only has 6 keys " gwuilleann.

Some previous Olwell “birthday flutes”:

2013: A six key cocus wood flute, a Nicholson model, went for $9200.

2014: 00#1221 - A six key blackwood & silver Pratten Olwell sold for $9353.10 on the 18th of June, 2014. The bidding went from $6309 to $9353.10 on the last day, the 18th June, 2014

2015: OO#1268 - A six key cocus wood Olwell (Nicholson model) sold for $11100 on the 17th of July 2015. The bidding went from $6200 to $11,100 on the last day, the 17th of June, 2015.

2016: OO#1300 Pratte - A six key cocus wood Olwell (Nicholson model) sold for $7457 on the 17th of July 2016. The bidding went from $6557 to $7457 on the last day, the 17th of June, 2016.

2017: A six key cocus wood Olwell (Pratten model) sold for $8500 on the 18th of June, 2017. The bidding went from $6425 to $8500 on the last day, the 18th of June, 2017

2018: A six key cocus wood flute sold for a good price $7855= £6000 = €6790. The last four minutes saw the bidding go from $6000 to $7855.

2019: A birthday flute, cocus wood, with two middle sections, went for for $8,850.00 wrote Jim Stone.

2020: An eight key, coccus wood flute with a Boehm foot, went for $13,600.
David Levine wrote “The Olwell is a lot of money for most people. But it’s a one-of-a-kind flute by one of the greatest-ever makers. And half of it is going to a progressive cause. After eBay takes its cut the Olwells will receive about $12,200. A Birthday Flute generally sells for from about $8,000 to $11,000. The $6,100 they will net for this flute is considerably less than the birthday flute normally sells for.”

Thanks Steampacket, much appreciated :slight_smile: Based on that it appears that the average price for a 6-key Olwell Birthday flute is $8,977. Wow! Those who “only” paid $7500 got a bargain of some sort…

Edit: Added “Birthday”, since apparently it wasn’t clear from the context.

No, the prices mentioned were for the once a year special edition “Birthday” flutes, not the standard order 6 key Olwell flutes. The Birthday flutes are often made of more expensive cocus, and always have additional features of various sorts (changes from year to year) not found on a “standard” Olwell 6 key.

Yeah, and you don’t have to wait 6 years to get it.

Indeed, how did I forget that?? :tomato:

Like they say: You want it good, you want it fast, you want it cheap. Pick two.

6years for a keyed blackwood.
A keyed cocus flute…considerably more time, I’m sure. (not even sure he’d make a one-piece middle section cocus Pratten anymore)
I waited nearly 10 years for mine…8 years for my boxwood one.

Levine is not wrong. I’ve seen the b-day flutes go for plenty…and they’re worth every dime.