Stuff in general is a lot cheaper than it used to be, and there's been a kind of hollowing out of the middle - everyday-use things are cheap enough to be disposable, so almost by definition anything sturdy is likely too expensive to use. (If you look at medieval wills, even shirts or crockery were valuable enough to pass down; if you go back a few decades then everyday furniture was expensive enough that you would avoid buying new if you could).

The only things I can think of my friends having that are valuable enough to pass on without feeling "expensive for the sake of being expensive" are Patagonia jackets, and even then it's hard to imagine one of them becoming an heirloom - while they are well-made, the price is partly because of the cutting-edge materials which will likely become cheaper and more effective over time. (And Patagonia specifically seems to be headed in the Rolex direction of becoming a luxury brand).