I have and cherish my Olwell blackwood keyless D flute. However, in reading some of the recent talk about the Hamilton, I’m now considering spending some money that - truth be told - I REALLY should not spend on aquiring a Hammy. I’m may try and work the “investment” angle with my wife. Something like, “honey, this flute is also A GREAT INVESTMENT!” Although I would have no intention to sell the instrument, would I be lying to say that it holds or increases in value over time?
Thanks,
Jeff
I wouldn’t know. I’ve had a Hammy in C that I’ve not tooted a note on in six months.
You wouldn’t be lying to say that the price of a new Hammy will likely increase over time. Particularly if you’re currently using U.S. dollars as your currency. I’m not sure how well any flutes are necessarily holding resale value these days. I’ve been watching a glut of For Sale notices on Chiff & Fipple, Woodenflute.com, Brad Hurley’s Flute Exchange, & eBay, and wish I had the funds free to give all those flutes a home. My Hammy 6-key is now priced at nearly 3x what I paid for it new (but past performance does not guarantee future performance). The asking prices for used Hammys seem to be on par with new pricing (sans the wait), but dependent of course on condition. Whereas a few flutes might receive a premium over wait list prices, many more are only saleable if heavily discounted 25-50%. Always dependent on their desirability and the willingness and ability for people to part with their money. In my own opinion, if you have a satisfactory Olwell, you probably won’t find a Hammy different enough to bother with, unless you require a backup flute for gigs. I’ve tried a number of Olwells, and like them, but see no need to change (OK, I’ve played ONE keyless cocus Olwell that I might lust for).
Kevin Krell
Ditto Kevin. They’re lovely flutes and all, but I wouldn’t think of one as an investment --unless you happen to measure playing enjoyment in dollars. If the way things seem to currently work is any indication … at best you’d probably sell it for the going rate of a new one or a wee bit more; at worst (provided it’s in good condition) you’d sell it for a little less than you paid for it.
(Altho I suppose that could change if you hung onto it for 20 years and Hammys became the gold standard … but then again, there are a lot of cool flutes starting to happen out there, so who knows what’ll be king in 20 years?)
(And then again, you could play it and go on to stardom with the thing so then everyone would be bidding furiously to buy “Jeff S’s Hammy” when you retire … 
)
But. In fact, if there’s presently a solid demand for anything it’s probably that Olwell you’ve already got – but even Patrick bristles at people trying to turn a big profit on reselling his flutes, so I think the market controls are quite solidly in place.
Only my opinion, and you know what they say about those …
xo,
cat.
Ok, thanks for the responses. Nice reality check.
Sorry to nitpick but the Hamilton’s are very different from Olwell’s but on the other hand most people sound the same basically on whatever they play.
Hey David, if you’re not using your C you could send it my way for a visit 
Amen to that, Murphy (see Honkin Flute thread).