After being bitterly disappointed by three Kimbers, in the 1997 to 2000 time frame, I settled upon Les Baer Custom as my favored higher-end 1911 pistol brand. I phased-down my 1911 buying, after acquiring my new Thunder Ranch Special, about 2000. Regrettably, I sold my reliable Series Colt Government Model, along with the Kimbers, in 2002, when I reluctantly transitioned to Glock G22 (.40 S&W) duty pistols. In 2016, I was able to return to using a .45 ACP 1911 duty pistol, so my LBC TR Special regained its status, and I added a pre-owned LBC Premier II, that had been customized by Harrison. This one had been used, and carried, but not abused, by the previous owner. In 2018, as a self-gift after retirement from LEO-ing, I added a pre-owned, but very well-preserved LBC Monolith.
I still like Colt Government Models, and may well re-acquire a carefully-selected sample. Baers are a bit expensive, for a retired guy’s budget, though I may yet decide to re-enter the working man’s life. (Receiving paychecks, plus my police pension, could be sufficient to enable acquiring the occasional nice pistol.)
The high-water mark of my 1911 acquisitions was the year 2000, followed by that one brief surge in 2016 to 2018, when I added two pre-owned Baers, and a pre-owned Detonics 9-11-01, a commemoratively-named Street Master.
My first handgun, in 1982 or 1983, was a very compact Detonics Combat Master, which I owned only briefly, as it was not very reliable, and back then, I could not afford to keep a firearm that did not earn its keep. When I later became nostalgic for a Detonics, I decided to get a full-sized model, that used standard 1911 Government springs, as the springs for the tiny Combat Masters are very difficult to find, and my right hand has aged-out of shooting compact pistols that fire duty/service-level cartridges. To be clear, I am not saying that Detonics is a “favorite” 1911 brand, but they were a new-cool-thing in the early Eighties, and, there is that middle-aged nostalgia for things we liked, as young ‘uns.
Edited to add: My having failed to mention a specific 1911 pistol brand is not an indication of disfavor or disdain. I formed my ideas or favorites over twenty years ago, and have not sought to try any new-to-me brands, since then.