Marc Newson has achieved worldwide fame. The Australian-born designer, who sees knives as art, is so well-known that Time magazine once named him one of the 100 Most Influential people in the world.

He lives in London & designs products for Apple and has broken records for some of his own designs at auction. He also has designed products for Luis Vuitton, Hennessy and Nike, among many others.

He’s also an avid collector of knives.

Viewing Knives As Art

His interest in knives shows once again that knife collecting is something that interests people from all walks of life. Angelina Jolie is a collector, as is Aerosmith’s Stephen Tyler and Joe Perry. So is Tim Duncan, Sylvester Stallone and Ted Nugent.

For Newson, the attraction of knives starts with craftmanship.

“The thing that really fascinates me about knives is that they’re man-made. They’re probably the very first tool that we made, so it’s a little bit like the wheel in a way, it’s a monumental invention,” Newson told CNN.

Sports Cars and Knives

Newson famously collects old sports cars. But he became fascinated with knives more than 30 years ago and began collecting them.

Newson now has several hundred knives in his collection.

He said part of this interest involves the fact he trained as silversmith, giving him a great interest in metal and metallurgy. His appreciation comes not for the knife as a weapon, but knives as art because it’s a beautifully crafted piece of workmanship.

He said that unlike other works of art, knives have the advantage of being affordable and accessible to many people. Even if some are on the expensive end, anyone can afford to start a knife collection of their own.

Not The Money

Like many knife collectors, Newson is not concerned with the value of a knife. He said while some are very valuable, he’s more interested in those that are fascinating and designed well.

He told CNN, “My job as a designer really revolves around the fact that I hate most of what’s out there right now.” But that’s not the case with knives.

His collection is built not upon a knife’s use as weapon, but more on the effort that goes into “construction and craft of a knife.”

I’m such a geek that sometimes I go to knife shows. What I do is completely inspired by these kind of objects and the skill that goes into conceiving them and constructing these things,” he said, talking about his knives in a video about his collection.

Newson’s passion for knives shows that well-made knives exist in a place where art and practicality meet. There truly are few items in the world quite like them.