However, compared to the OP-1, they are not 'boutique ' -- but Made in China Crap.
The OP-1 is boutique.
There are mass produced products that rest in the apogee of design that are made in China—Apple products are most notable, and many of our luxury goods. And I believe some of Teenage Engineering’s products.
There is the wealth of mass produced products my country, America, produces that bear no qualitative merits, embodying all the truest traits of "crap."
And there are products that are supposed to benefit from the “made in my country” ethos that presupposes, with no shortage of arrogance, excellence. My Moog Sub 37 is a fine example of poor craftsmanship—$1500 USD for a synthesizer with a keybed worse than those in entry level controllers, poorly sourced wood-ends, etc—by a company venerated for and frequently espousing its “Made in the US” lineage. My Analog Four, like all Elektron products, is littered with subpar design: seemingly bare metal chassis that has not been anodized, cheap paint that chips easily, cheap button design resulting in comically resonant and wiggly depression, a face plate that is not uniformly flush with the rest of the body, etc. If there is a similarly nationalistic “Made in Sweden” sentiment in Sweden, it would hold no favorable meaning with Elektron design.
The refrain “Made in China” is an all too facile, reflexive and hollow statement. It can be made in China, a newly industrializing country, and far exceed the quality of anything made in your industrialized country or it can be made in China and equal the low standards set by the mass produced products of any industrialized country. Given the spare consumer protections in America, it might just have as many dangerous chemicals as a poorly produced Chinese product.
And the vitriol in “Made in China” is misplaced. If you seek quality, blame not China. Instead, ask why the company you’re buying from is not willing to sacrifice some profit for better materials and production processes, and why, most of us, in our unrelenting consumerism are willing to pay less, to get more, of less quality, and yet not blame ourselves when dissatisfied over the quality.
The Roland Boutique build quality is not “crap.” They don’t even present the aforementioned problems of the $1.5k, Made in America Sub 37 and $1.3k, Made in Sweden Elektrons, despite the price. And it’s Made in China.