just trying to find out something more about it. you are obviously knowledgeable about cymbals and are also a collector of oddities and obscure antiquities. i am not by any means trying to hype this piece nor would i milk you for something i have no practical use for. i dont think thats what you were thinking but just to clear the air a little bit. but anyway drumaholic asked for some better pics so i posted them. any guesses on what part of the world this is from and approximate date?

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Well....educated guesses would be either Italy or Turkey, pre-1950.....

it could really be Turkish....or it could be an Italian made to pass as a Turkish (there were these pseudo-Turkish cymbals made in Italy back then...with Arabic-looking stamps, Turkish-type names and such).

..the only other possibility I can think of is something John told me years ago.....that it is in fact an early A.Zildjian which, due to brand-name rights owned by Gretsch back in the '30's, couldn't legally be stamped with the Zildjian name at the time. I have seen a few of those...but they didn't quite look like this.

The name seems Armenian...but whether it's real or made-up is anyone's guess......

...if I had to bet I'd say it isn't an old Zildjian, but rather either one of the initial two possibilities I mentioned.[/COLOR]

Everything about it points to it being Italian. Both the bell design and the hammering. The Italians were known for making these cymbals that they hoped would be mistaken for old K's.

huh? i just thought finding a new stamp may have sparked more discussion. is it often that you see a stamp unknown before?

[COLOR="Green"]Most folks don't dig the obscure thang.....

I find it hella interesting, but...short of anything else coming up on it on a websearch someday (getting zero hits now) and contacting John Aldridge to ask a third opinion...I don't know if anyone has any better thoughts on it.....

It's really hella hard to try to dig up info on obscure makers and makes. Either they were just lost in time or space, or they were folded into one of the bigger companies and thus their names and history became property of those companies...and generally, they ain't talkin' about the buyouts they have done in the past....

It's hecka old...and either Turkish or more likely Italian....that may be about as good as it gets. But who knows...maybe more will surface in the future...(?)[/COLOR]

This was settled in early 2010 by Drumaholic as Italian. Did you have something to add?

xipa4 appears to be bringing all the old cymbals topics back up...

mike

I wouldn't mind if xipa4 were adding valuable new information in doing so. But from a few I've looked at I remain unconvinced that all the resurrects are worthwhile, or that the information is well documented and referenced (and in some cases even correct). So I'm trying to find out...

aww.. i got all excited thinking someone found another when i saw this thread was resurrected.CryBaby