(CNN) — The design writer and collector Dung Ngo owns more than 10,000 pieces of cutlery. It started 25 years ago, when Ngo turned 30 and decided that “the cutlery I bought after college from Target, no longer fit who I was.” He found a 40-piece set he loved in a vintage shop for $400, and spent a week searching through old design journals until he identified it: Composition, by the renowned Finnish designer Tapio Wirkkala. These days, a complete Wirkkala set can fetch upwards of $3,600.