Era-Crafting

I thought up a term to describe what is going on these days in the area of design that features artisinal craftsmanship, high-quaility materials, and a vision for the traditional. The term is "era-crafting" - the process of making a new object that evokes another time, utilising craftsmanship and materials from both past and present technologies.
There is a whole host of individuals out there, framebuilders and visionaries, who capture this style perfectly - Grant Peterson, Tony Pereira, and Chris Kulczycki just to name a few.
Outside of the bicycle kingdom, the style is prevalent in watches, motorcycles, and architechture. An interesting parrallel is what the SyCip brothers are doing with their boardtracker and Paul Brodie's motorcycle project.
My favorite motorcycle designer, builder, visionary whatever is Shinya Kimura. I would like to think if Shinya put his efforts into a bicycle, it would look like this -
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My Mirella, 60's vintage Italian, brush-painted flat black, re-purposed fixed gear. Signature detailed pieces include misc bronze plated bits, powder coated components, exposed bearings


This reflector bracket exemplifies the style - simple, mechanical, elegant


Threaded inserts on Campy seatpost bronze plated


Re-worked MAFAC Racer brake. Bronze plated hardware and springs. Also shows brass valve liberated from rubber coating and elegant cap.


Mixing old with new, ultra high-end with cheap. Ibis Ti stem with Wald steel Northroad bars and Nitto stainless thrown in for good measure
(click photos to zooomify)

Bronze plated locknut with wording highlighted


Exposed bearings in rear hub, flame-tarnished QR handle