Good point about the "tailored-suit" aspect. Some certainly are, but many of them aren't. Standard built guns are on the racks as we speak.
Respectfully, and with no offense intended, this is one of the least understood and appreciated areas of Spanish artisanal shotguns. There are no standard built guns. All of the artisanal makers, from Arrieta to Zubillaga, dont start making a gun until they have a customer, an order, and a deposit. If you, or I, or a retailer (think Orvis, or Trust Eibarres) order one gun or ten guns work doesnt start until the maker has the order with gun details and a sizable deposit.
If that hypothetical ten gun order was for ten guns made to the same set of requirements, then upon delivery those ten guns are going to look pretty much as if they came from a standard pattern. They didnt; they were just made to the same set of requirements. This is why we find sets of guns from a maker that arent in that makers catalog, with model names that also arent in the makers catalog. Some retailer ordered some number of guns made to a pattern he thought would sell well, with a model name he thought would appeal to his market. Not standard guns guns made to the same set of custom(er) requirements.
Another aspect that nobody has mentioned is the devaluation of the American Dollar. We don't notice it so much domestically, but it's a big deal when international trade is involved.
Truth that!
The Federal Reserve was founded in 1913 and the US dollar has lost 98% of its value since then. We went off the gold standard domestically in 1934, off the silver standard in 1964, off the gold standard internationally in 1971. Thats the point at which the dollar stopped being money and just became currency.
For those who dont know the difference between money and currency, behold two one dollar coins:
On the left is a one dollar (silver) coin minted in 1879, on the right is a one dollar (base metal) coin minted in 2000.
The 1879 year dollar would have bought 20 loaves of bread the day it was minted. Today, if that silver dollar was sold for its silver value the proceeds from that sale would still buy 20 loaves of bread.
The 2000 year dollar would have bought most of one loaf of bread on the day it was minted. Today in would buy less than half a loaf of bread. The metal it was made from was worth less than a dollar in 2000, and is still worth less than a dollar.
Money has, and holds, intrinsic value. Currency didnt, and still doesnt.
