The $103,000 "Celtic Prince" cue. Pics wanted!

Celtic

Celtic

AZB's own 8-ball jihadist
Silver Member
This cue is the most expensive cue ever sold from what I have heard/read. It won the ACA show one year as the best cue in the show. And for the life of me I cannot find a single pic of the cue or Thomas Wayne's other really fancy Celtic inspired cues. For a new custom cue to actually sell for more then 100k it had to be something special, it is shocking that there seems to be no pictures out there at all of what clearly is a masterpiece. Anyone know where any pics exist or have any they could post and share?
 
Wow, thanks alot. That had to be hard to find, it is rare as hell.

While I am shocked at how long that would have taken and the detail of inlayed ivory into the ebony to get the knotwork pattern I am not sure I really like that cue, sure as hell not $100,000 like it, thats for sure. My cue has a Celtic design and side by side I think my cue would stand up pretty well to that thing. While mine is not quite as "full" of inlays the design is better and mine has Celtic knotwork that is actually 3-D while that cue seems to have the knotwork flush with the wood so that the only way you see the rising and lowering of the "rope" of the knots is via the breaks where the two pieces meet and one continueing while the other stops and therefore seems to underlay it.

Too bad there is not better picture of that. You would think the ACA would actually take pictures of the cue that wins there show and put it on their site...
 
gee i thought gus's last cue sold for $250,000.... you know the one in the encylopedia thats not finnished, looks like it needs sprayed, buffed, joint screw, ferrules and tips.... i wonder what it would of sold for if had finnished?
 
JoeyInCali said:
If you really believe that cue sold for $103K, I have a beachfront property in Nevada. LOL
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I talked to Thomas about that cue and he told me he set the price at $103,000 based on $3000 in gold, ivory and wood, etc... Then he told me he quit counting the hours at 1000 hours and $100 per hour for labor and shop, equipment, overhead helped him decide on the $103,000 price. That is about 25 times my most expensive cue so far.
Chris
www.cuesmith.com
www.internationalcuemakers.com
 
JoeyInCali said:
If you really believe that cue sold for $103K, I have a beachfront property in Nevada. LOL
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Whats so hard about beachfront property in Nevada? There is lots of it.

Besides, what is your basis for thinking the cue did not sell for that? Says right there in Billiard Digest in an interview from the maker that it did.
 
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The guy who owns it now...

If you read the text above the photo in the link I first posted you'll see Mr. Wayne thought the price he set was outrageous and that no-one would ever buy it for that. I'm sure he would have been quite happy keeping it for his personal collection, but an anonymous foreign buyer did meet that price.

However evidently they have since sold it, since this article about the 2004 International Cue Collectors Showcase details who currrently owns it and that they paid less than $100,000 for it.

http://users.myexcel.com/hughtiernan/articles/id45.htm
 
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There is quite a large typo in that article. The article claims that the 300 cues on display are worth $100 million. That would make the average value of each cue worth $333,000. They probably meant $10 million, putting the average at a believable $33,000.
 
Even $33,000 seems high, they could have meant 1 million and each cue would be average of $3300 which is not to be scoffed at and is about the level where you start getting pretty fancy with alot of makers.
 
Celtic said:
Wow, thanks alot. That had to be hard to find, it is rare as hell.

While I am shocked at how long that would have taken and the detail of inlayed ivory into the ebony to get the knotwork pattern I am not sure I really like that cue, sure as hell not $100,000 like it, thats for sure. My cue has a Celtic design and side by side I think my cue would stand up pretty well to that thing. While mine is not quite as "full" of inlays the design is better and mine has Celtic knotwork that is actually 3-D while that cue seems to have the knotwork flush with the wood so that the only way you see the rising and lowering of the "rope" of the knots is via the breaks where the two pieces meet and one continueing while the other stops and therefore seems to underlay it.

Too bad there is not better picture of that. You would think the ACA would actually take pictures of the cue that wins there show and put it on their site...
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Hmmm, must have missed this cheap shot.

FYI, the handle section of the Celtic Prince is all relief-carved around the knots, making them highly tactile without disturbing the cylindrical nature of the cue. In that handle section each "knot" is tied around an 18-karat solid Gold escutcheon pin with a domed head; each dome is hand engraved with an intricate Celtic knot - 64 pins total. I had 3 months in the carving and engraving alone.

The pattern you deem inferior is an original design of mine - it's actually two distinct continuous "cords" winding around each other. All the Ivory in the butt sleeve is 100% Mastodon Ivory that came out of a Siberian excavation - estimated to be around 30,000 years old; this makes up one of the "cords". All the Ivory in the forearm is antique Elephant Ivory, and this makes up the other "cord". The Mastodon and Elephant Ivory "cords" intertwine with Celtic knots tied around each other in the handle section only. There are more than 1500 inlays in the cue, not counting the Gold.

The butt and joint rings are tiny Ivory Celtic knots sandwich between Sterling Silver rings.

So there you have the basic specs. Feel free to forward them to whomever made your cue and request a hard quote for the identical amount and level of work.

TW
(PS: This cue was never displayed at an ACA show. It debuted (and sold) at the first Showcase of American Cue Art, held at he LA Biltmore Hotel in 1996. At the time there had never been a cue known to be even remotely so elaborate - or expensive.)
 
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JoeyInCali said:
Nobody knows who bought it. Then TW went Kaizer Soze. Disappeared for a while. [...]
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I swear, Joey, the misinformation and ignorance that comes out of your keyboard is astonishing. The official show books recorded the sale and the 10% fee I paid ($10,300), and EVERYBODY at that show knew who bought it.

You say I "went Kaize Soze"? "Disappeared for while"? Actually, I displayed at the very next SBE, was extremely active in the ACA and online (RSB), and attended (and helped finance and organize) the next Cue Art show the following year. Not only did I NOT "disappear", I was actually pretty high profile for about 6 years after that show.

But you weren't there, and have zero first-hand knowledge about any of what your now spewing about. This is all before your time and as I said, the ignorance that flows from your keyboard is astonishing.

TW
 
I don't always argue on the internet, but when I do, I like to respond to stuff from 9 years ago.
 
Thomas Wayne said:
I swear, Joey, the misinformation and ignorance that comes out of your keyboard is astonishing. The official show books recorded the sale and the 10% fee I paid ($10,300), and EVERYBODY at that show knew who bought it.

You say I "went Kaize Soze"? "Disappeared for while"? Actually, I displayed at the very next SBE, was extremely active in the ACA and online (RSB), and attended (and helped finance and organize) the next Cue Art show the following year. Not only did I NOT "disappear", I was actually pretty high profile for about 6 years after that show.

But you weren't there, and have zero first-hand knowledge about any of what your now spewing about. This is all before your time and as I said, the ignorance that flows from your keyboard is astonishing.

TW
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Considering Joey's response was from nearly a decade ago, you're starting to make a fool of yourself. Your response here is actually instructive on why I'd never own one of your cues, and I own/owned every important cue maker.
 
Holy Frickin' Resurrected thread Batman! I've been known to hold a grudge.. but to respond 9 years later has to be record worthy!

And to argue the point that you disappeared for a while, to then respond to a thread that is 9 years old ... priceless!
 
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