I just find it funny that you can combine Olwell and Rudall in the same discussion.
An Olwell is worth what Olwell is willing to sell it for, not what someone else is willing to commandere for it.
You all know how Pat feels about people profiting from his work. Granted, he can’t stop it, but he’s not happy about it.
For that reason, I have only once – just once – sold an Olwell flute (to DL as a matter of fact)…and I bought it back years later at, sadly, a hefty premium. Why? It was a great flute and I hadn’t yet ordered one from Pat.
I never regret buying it, though, and still have it. But it’s an Eb flute, not the D or C that I’ve been waiting on for 8.5 years now.
nevertheless, i think this $10k on the Rudall puts the other ones in a different world now. I can’t see how we ask for less than $6000 for a good one and $7000 for a nice one.
What’s it all coming to?
With the greatest respect and affection to JD/DL, American orchestra players routinely pay a LOT more than $5,000 for an instrument. Current new instruments in those circles might be a Powell (about $10,500 in silver, $18,000 in 14k gold and silver) or a Brannen ($13,300 in silver, $23,840 in 14k gold and silver.) A gold flute is not unusual among orchestra players and a gold headjoint alone falls in the $5,000 range. My own weapon of choice, a silver Arista, cost almost $13,000 about 6 years ago. Those who favor the vintage Powell sound typically pay $10,000+ when they can find one and I know of an original silver Louis Lot which was brokered to a well known performer on historical flutes for $40,000. While that’s not “Strad-ospheric,” it’s serious money to just about any musician.
All of this only supports the idea that the recent R&R price was not completely outrageous, especially given the rarity of that specific flute. You might consider a $7,000 cocus Olwell to be a comparable instrument to a fine, handmade modern flute (+/- the price of the precious metals involved.)
At the same time, more ordinary examples of fine modern Boehm flutes which are not among the sought after vintages or specifications will often sell for considerably less than new flutes by the same maker.
Check the price of decent bassoons and tubas, too! The Woodwind and Brasswind has a bassoon for $35,000 and there are a lot in the $20,000 range! Glad I play “cheap” instruments…
i think the $10K was a great price for something so rare.
one can easily find Mandolins, Guitars, Ukuleles for a few times the price this flute sold.
i don’t think that the market price of a keyed cocus Olwell is relevant, since olwell is still making flutes.
sure it’s a ridiculous price to pay if one is just looking for a session flute…but for a collector of flutes, this was a once in a life kind of find, i think.
The orchestra example doesn’t work there: how many of real orchestral instruments were bought on ebay after seeing merely four little photos and without trying the instrument? No doubt none. The point here is not whether a good musical isntrument is worth a lot - and I’m sure we all think a good musical instrument IS worth a lot - but the point is that this Rudall with custom keys and rings was bought at an astronomical price WE SUSPECT without being tested first of all; in which case, we cannot use the argument of the orchestra players who would never fork out $10,000 for example on a gold-looking flute pictured briefly on ebay. HOWEVER, if the buyer tried the instrument and found it wonderful, THEN we could use the argument of the orchestra players. I don’t mean to sound aggressive, I’m actually enjoying this discussion!
Not only the buyer but the second bidder also thought it was a worthwhile price—for whatever reason. To my mind, it calls the question as to whether this is an isolated anomaly or marks the beginning of a trend toward higher prices in general.
When I referred to low prices paid by orchestral musicians I was thinking of a friend who plays in a small city philharmonic orchestra. She’s first chair in the second violin section. She’s in a professional string quartet as well. She paid $3,000 for her fiddle ten years ago and about the same for her viola. I imagine that musicians in top-flight orchestras in such large cities as Boston, Cleveland, Chicago, New York, etc, make a lot more money and would pay more for their instruments. However, I stand corrected.
No object that I own brings me as much pleasure as my instruments. Whatever price I have paid for them has been worth it. I am thankful that there are collectors who spend significant amounts of money preserving and restoring antique collectable instruments. And that there are players who appreciate great modern makers.
I was talking through with a friend yesterday how much value I have in fiddles and flutes. It’s frightening. Strangely, it’s about the same amount in each of those two categories. And I’m not saying how much that is!
I was in Mandolin Brothers on Staten Island a couple of years ago. Played and eventually bought a beautiful old Gibson jazz guitar for around $5,000. Across from me was a guy playing what looked like an old Fender Stratocaster. Nothing special about it at all, but the guy seemed totally enraptured. So I said something nice and he said “yeah, 125.” When he left, I asked the owner “is that the serial number?” He said “no, its $125,000.” When I looked at him kind of funny, he said, “well, its an early one.” That was it. It wasn’t Buddy Holly’s or anything, just an okay early Strat and I’m sure the owner was asking a fair market price. Now, R & R’s may not fall into the category of the classic baby boomer’s dream and $10,000 is an awful lot of money, but in my opinion, it was a whole lot better spent than the $125,000 that finally went into that old Stratocaster. (For the skeptics, it was a Strat, not a Strad as in Stradavarius!)
I was contacted by the buyer abot this flute and he brought it round for my thoughts. First impression was one of awe. the silver work is stunning if you like that kind of thing.
Head joint : End cap wooden screw is not present. Replaced by threaded bar glued into cap and has been glued off centre !?.Replacing
cap so it is flush with body is almost impossible. The glue has not been removed from around the threaded bar and sits
proud of the end cap by a good 4mm (yellow/beige colour)
cracks- one running nearly the entire length nicely pinned and finished
One at the back of head, again pinned
Barrel : Barrell cracked and pinned. Not as good a repair as the other pinnings
Top Joint : Hairline crack from the top,90mm, not repaired
Bottom Joint: OK
Foot : As has been noted the first block for the C/C# has been repaired. It seems the top was nocked off and the pieces screwed
back into place?! The wood is a good match. The center (seperator) is missing so that the keys slide up and down the pin.
The pads are purse pads barring the pewter C/C#.
We removed the keys as they need repadding and filled the holes with blue tack for testing purposes. The tone is lovely and warm and fairly powerful. The buyer brought his trusty Metzler for comparison and got a stronger tone from this.
Bottom D is considerably flat, not unusal but would need alot of lip and the A2 is ,as expected, sharp but sweet
