My grandmother's stepmother was a seamstress in the late 1800's. I am pleased to own her buttonhole scissors. They are not valuable, but they are handy for more than buttonholes, and I feel privileged. I first used them in my mother's sewing room in the 1950's on buttonholes made with the old Singer attachment.
On the other hand I saw a chisel type tool in a sewing machine store a couple of years ago. I think it sold for about $16, and it was billed as a tool for cutting buttonholes. It looked dangerous.