F&BL Silver CCC For Review

[Thomas Durante]

I cannot see them either Don.

Try to repost them, or send me an email with the pics and I will post for you.

Tom

[DonC]

Damned cut and paste! Here they are again! Silver on top, Bronze below - most interested in making sure the silver one is not faded bronze, but all comments are helpful and appreciated!

Don

[DonC]

Final one.

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Don,

I can see them now, thanks.

Still looks bronze to me Either it is a fade bronze grade, or it has no finish left at all and we are seeing the bare zinc base metal IMO. Personally, I think it is a worn bronze grade because of the little bronze finish I think I see in the recess of the leaves, but also the color of the finish on the pin and hardware.

Tom

[DonC]

Thanks, Tom.

Don

[DonC]

All, I'd appreciate a few more opinions as to silver or bronze...

[Thomas Durante]

Hi guys,

Just a little follow up, Rudy was kind enough to send me this clasp to inspect in hand, here are some good scans of it which I think show its true color.

There is no doubt for me this is completely devoid of all finish. There is 0% finish left on it, it has been totally polished down to the bare zinc base metal. In several places, you can see the dried white polishing paste in the crevaces. It was probably a bronze grade, based on the color of the pin, but the rest has been blitzed and polished down to the zinc. Even the brass hinge and catch are shiny, like they were polished yesterday. Just a very un-natural state for brass hardware that is 70 years old.

Tom

[Thomas Durante]

Some closeups of the dried polish in the crevaces.

Tom

[Thomas Durante]

Hi guys,

Just a little more followup to complete this thread, here is a true F&BL CCC in silver, it was just posted on the estand by tystgaard.

This example has about 50% of the silver finish remaining, with the rest of the areas showing the zinc base metal.

Tom

[Thomas Durante]

This is what I would consider normal wear. Note that the finish remains largely intact on the areas made from brass or steel (not zinc), such as the hinge, pin and catch. Compare this catch to the blitzed catch of the CCC that started this thread.

Tom

[Thomas Durante]

And finally, a side by side comparison of the two.

Tom