On one hand having precious and well known items being destroyed because you didn't repair them is lame. On the other hand completely disallowing the making of new ones is also not that great. So, the middle ground should be to have certain items that achieve certain value (for example, +7 prestige) become immortal and everlasting
. They don't decay anymore or need repairs. They become legendary. In the meantime the advies should still be able to find new items and repair those. Break the system in two...minor artifacts and legendary artifacts and everyone remains happy: then nobles who are tied to their items, and the advies who still get to find/make new ones.
