hey grats on the powell i havent tried the aurumite flutes as i chose a solid gold model hey i wish i lived in the states as mine cost me 28,800 AUD plus import duty and taxes at the time it was around an extra 30% but i allways look at it as a wise investment

As a manufacturing jeweller/designer i've started to experiment with makeing my own heads and soon i hope to try makeing my own handmade flutes aiming to one day selling them but thats a while off yet

i play a hand made picollo i made in platinum and 18ct yellow gold originaly it was for a bit of fun but after lending it to a member of the sydney symphony ive been asked to make some it may be something i will consider in the future but till then its purely for my own enjoyment.

mbrowne, did you choose the conservatory or handmade line? I honestly can not tell the difference between the two whenever I played on them. One has soldered tone holes and the other has rolled but still I couldn't hear a difference. Were you able to? I tried each because I thought about stepping up to the handmade line but found out it wasn't worth the price difference.

Adam, I think it would be great fun to make flutes and headjoints! People really like the gemstones set into the crown also that I sell on my used flutes. As a jeweler that would be easy for you to do and you may consider adding that to your headjoints as an option.

actualy kara i do have a stone set crown on my flute like the ones you do with a 6mm sky blue ceylon sapphire in the center and the rest of the dome is pave set with diamonds comeing down the a channell of diamonds in place of the grip its around 2ct 40pts total diamond weight yes it is a bit over the top but what can i say i'm a jeweller

Ooh.. it sounds lovely. Do you have a picture of it? I would LOVE to see it!

Ann, thanks for your input on the Powell

I did try the 9k Aurumite. And the silver Powell (It was the Custom model however and had drawn tone holes). TO be completely honest, it was a HUGE difference. I tried every headjoint they had in the store to fit each flute and none of them compared. Except for the 14k gold... but even then it was almost too dark in the lower register.
The others just seemed too shrill in the higher register. They seemed to improve though with an all gold headjoint. No matter what anyone says, we did a blind test (with both myself and the 2 people listening to me) and we could tell which combo was being played in a small setting. ex: 14k gold flute vs. 14k aurumite with 14k gold hj vs. 14k aurumite with aurumite hj. The guesses were correct each time.
I certainly can tell a difference. I do not agree with anyone and their numbers. I'm going to stick with my beliefs and say that numbers... ok. But this is Earth and very rarely does a scientific experiment turn out "the way it should" without manipulation.
I simply did not like the silver or the 9k aurumite. we just didn't fit.