On my timeline I have them as

2000 to 2007

plus a year as rarities

2010 (prefix AJ)

From memory the sizes you listed are the full set of offerings, but I haven't written all that up yet. I played on a few in the shop when they were still in production and I really liked them. And I'd grab a set of hats, 15" crash, and 20" ride if I came across them at that $250 price. Good buying. Good sounding. Enjoy.

That's a nice score! Any idea what that 20" weighs? I bid on a 22 earlier this year, seems like that size was not a common size. Looked like a modern K-Constantinople.

Gary

I haven't run across a 22" A Zildjian & Cie Vintage before. I'll have to watch out for one. I've certainly seen the 1970s A Zildjian & Cie (no vintage) in 22".

In terms of weights, the 20" ride is around 1900g (plus or minus 5% range), the 18" crashes are around 1200g, and the hats are light top (750-900g) over medium bottom (1100-1200g) like 1960s New Beats. But I haven't got a lot of weight data for the & Cie Vintage in my records, particularly for the 20" ride. And I don't have any weights for the smaller crashes. I thought I did but it's not in my main database. So anybody who has any A Zildjian & Cie Vintage cymbals and a way to weigh them...I'd love more weights. Weights for any sizes happily accepted.

In terms of hammering patterns, the A Zildjian & Cie Vintage have the standard Avedis concentric ring hammering using a single hammer face, versus the K style irregular pattern. So it would be easy to tell them apart once the ink is gone. That hammering link contrasts a K Custom versus a Armand as specific examples, but the pattern is the same.

Hey zen,

I'll get those weighed and post back here tonight.

Here's an article I found regarding them, which is where I put all the sizes that they offered together. It looks like the first run of these were just 14", 15" and 16" crashes, according to the article, with a 20" Ride, 14" hats and an 18" crash being offered to supplement the originals. They don't mention a 22" at all. Maybe gSonor is thinking of a different cymbal?

Also, based on the date the article was written, it looks like the first year these were available was 2001.

http://jazztimes.com/articles/20004-a-zildjian-cie-vintage-cymbals

Thanks for your help. That link is great. I'll have to amend the year to indicate that different models were phased in, and write the full page on them with models and weights, rather than just the link to the one photo. That was just a place holder so that I had the ink logo showing somewhere in the timeline.

It's possible that gSonor came across a prototype or something unusual from the Sound Lab. But without pictures of what it was we will probably remain unsure. I've learned to never say never with Zildjian.

Zen,

Here are the weights (in grams):

14" Hats: Top= 822 Bottom= 1184

15" Crash: 730

20" Ride: 1822

You were very accurate in your range estimations!

I love these cymbals!

Thanks for the weights, I'll add them to my database and I've made a note on my to do list to create the proper page for these. That 15" crash is deliciously light. No wonder people like the crashes so much.