craftsmen/artisans vs Cheap goods

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Quality or (as I prefer) value (quality & utility) is not self-apparent, nor does it sell itself.

I think it does. Here are three examples:

Wilkinson Sword. Absolute value in terms of quality (unsurpassed) and utility (swords are a tool, after all).

Rolls-Royce. Absolute value in terms of quality (equaled, perhaps, but never surpassed) and utility (it is, after all a motorcar and it does what all other motorcars do).

Hugo Borchardt's Model 1900 self-loading pistol, perhaps better known as the Luger. Absolute value in terms of quality (I doubt few massed produced pistols were as finely machined, blued, and assembled) and utility (the official sidearm of more than a dozen countries, and nearly the official sidearm of the USA).

All three of these items are also possessed of what I consider to be the missing key ingredient in consumer-driven products-- they are desirable on aesthetic grounds which over-ride the (vulgar?) consideration of price.

To paraphrase William Morris, "Own nothing that isn't useful or beautiful." Ideally, at least in my estimation, one should strive to only own those things which are both useful and beautiful.