I'd like to add something to this. Spyderco designs tend to feel very considered to me, with a consistent design language based in a longer running tradition of knife design. A spyderco knife feels like the outcome of a long and meticulous process, with a distinct signature. This represents value to me.
A lot of the newer brands that rely on chinese OEM manufacturers have excellently produced knives, made out of great materials and surely designed by talented individuals, but the designs more often than not feel trendy and soulless to me. Like they are inspired by instagram, imagined entirely in CAD by industrial designers that might as well have designed any other product, and produced in factories where CNC time is cheap. At times it seems like endless array of flippers, facet-ground reverse tantos, titanium framelocks and "drops" to stimulate mindless consumption.
Hearing Mr. Janich explain his thought process in a video, seeing Sal engage in discussion on this forum, and seeing the delight and expertise with which Eric introduces new designs, these are all things that make spyderco stand out to me compared to the kizers and civivis of the world.