Old Style.......

[Alex W.]

That’s also a nice one, Nigel. It reminds me of one of my well worn mid 1960‘s Imperial 44mm EK1‘s.
Also no photo tricks here, just a well worn vet piece.

[Nigel N]

Great looking cross Alex....mint condition pieces are always nice, but I think I prefer the ones that show honest wear...they have a lot of character
-Nigel

[Alex W.]

Great looking cross Alex....mint condition pieces are always nice, but I think I prefer the ones that show honest wear...they have a lot of character
-Nigel

To be honest, both have their appeal to me. A worn piece has much more character indeed, even more so, if you know the vets name and personal history.
Then again I also just love the look of mint and frosty crosses.

[Tony T-S]

That’s what I’m after. That’s a nice example Alex.

[Nigel N]

Worn vs Mint is always a tough one to decide between.....
Of my EK's, the mint condition ones are mainly those that are in a case, which has protected them down the years.......
DSCF6771.jpg

[Alex W.]

Worn vs Mint is always a tough one to decide between.....
Of my EK's, the mint condition ones are mainly those that are in a case, which has protected them down the years.......
[ATTACH]4289012[/ATTACH]

Very nice again Nigel.

Something that I have noticed when looking through my imperial Ek‘s is that most of my 42mm crosses seem to hold up their finish very nicely. Most of them are in a mint state and still have that tasty frosting.
The 44mm crosses sometimes do lack in terms of beautiful finish.

[Nigel N]

I think that's true of the S&L 's Alex!!
The 42mm EK1's seem to be the earlier, and can be found with both the 1st & 2nd style pin, the 44mm haven't quite got the same finish to them, and I've only seen those with the 2nd or 3rd style pin......
Wether both size EK's were made alongside each other for a short period, or the 42mm stopped being made when the 44mm was introduced, i'm not sure!!
-Nigel