there's a leather wallet i've had for six years. it's better now than when i bought it. the edges have darkened. the leather has softened in exactly the places where my hands touch it. it fits my pocket differently than it did. it fits my pocket correctly now.
most things don't do this. most things degrade. they get worse with use, not better. the ones that get better are worth paying attention to.
the handmade things handmade tradition has a word for this — patina — but the word doesn't fully capture what's happening. it's not just surface change. it's the object becoming more itself through use. the use reveals what the object actually is.
i think about this when we're designing things. the question isn't just what does this look like new. it's what does this look like after two years of actual use. does it get better or worse? does it develop character or just wear out?
the maker perspective maker perspective on this is that it requires a different kind of material thinking. you have to choose materials that respond well to use. leather, brass, certain woods, certain fabrics. things that develop rather than degrade.
the creative work creative work angle is similar. the things you make that get better with time are the ones that were made honestly. they hold up because there was something real in them to begin with.
the calitoywares stuff we make is designed with this in mind. not everything achieves it. but it's the question we ask at the start: will this be better in five years? if the answer is no, we think harder about the materials.
the wallet is still going. i'll probably have it for another ten years. by then it'll be something else entirely. something that couldn't have existed without the use.