Some things will never go out of style and actually sets the bar height in my opinion..........Omega & Breitling watches, the "Corvette" auto, Brooks Brothers men's suits, wingtips, and traditional design cues are on this list too.
The beauty and appeal of a cue design's is obviously in the eye of its beholder. But a 4 point, 6 point or 8 point cues with handsome veneers, boxes, and inlays truly sets the standard for me in cue designs. Butterfly designs catch my eye but I would never want to own one more than a few hours. The design just gets old and is incongruous with what a cue should look like..........but obviously to each their own.
I have a custom cue being built which won't be completed until March 2014. I specified all the cue particulars....shaft sizes and weights (4.0 oz min. for the shafts) , ivory ferrules, butt cap & joint, as well as the cue butt weight, and most importantly, the cue design. Like the original poster mentioned, cues can at times seem like just a clone of what you've seen before.
I wanted to avoid that so I started designing a cue a year ago and copied a little of this and a little of that from other cue-makers and created my design. Fortunately, I hired a cue-maker that was not only very talented but was interested in partnering with me to make the cue design as handsome as possible. Will my cue design be unique.....probably not. Will my design make others envious....probably not. Will my design receive praise and compliments.......Absolutely yes...........Why?
Well , you be the judge........the forearm is an exquisite curly maple that will be stained darker than normal. It has six ebony points with 5 veneers (black, red, blue, orange & green) and a total of 56 ivory inlays in the forearm and butt. It has ebony & ivory square Bushka collars with double silver rings above and below the wrap (still looking for the right Cortland linen) and a Bushka collar above the ivory butt cap. The shaft and joint collars have the same Bushka design. The butt sleeve is ebony with double boxed veneers with ivory inlays and the cue-maker was extremely helpful in deciding the final butt sleeve design. The inlays were the hardest to come up with and I won't go into that because I think the inlays accentuate the design really well.
I am certain that there will be people that see my cue and perhaps claim they have one just like it or maybe one of their pals.......doesn't matter a bit. I am very confident no one has made a cue with the design features I've presented to my cue-maker. When I post pictures of my cue, it won't get ooh la la's for its creative design which was never my intention. But it will gather accolades for being just a darn handsome cue which is all I was shooting for to begin with.....a one of a kind classic cue I had a role in deciding the cue's design. Nonetheless, all the credit goes to the cue-maker who has the challenge of making the cue, presuming the cue turns out to be a winner and all the blame is mine if it doesn't turn out that way. I know it's a crap roll but I'm betting a couple of grand it's going to be a winner.
