I have a question about Aram Zildjian cymbals(President 1909 to 1929).His cymbals' sound is similar with old K Constantinople? Crispy & dry & heavy weight? Are there any worth other than the history?
Historically interesting for sure. But very few examples are ever seen.
"It is now necessary to revert to 1926, when Aram first appeared on this scene. He was then a man of about 65 years of age who had left Turkey many years prior to that time, and is not shown ever to have been engaged in the manufacture of cymbals.
The evidence does not purport to show that in 1926 Aram knew how to make cymbals according to the Zildjian formula and process. It is true that in that year he formed a partnership with Mikail Zilcan and the latter's brother-in-law, Vahe Indjidjian, in Bucharest, where they started to make cymbals and sell them under the name of A. Zildjian & Cie. Aram's contribution to the partnership was the use of his name only; Indjidjian was to act as salesman, while Mikail was to make the cymbals.
Whatever Aram gathered concerning the formula and process was the result of his watching Mikail, but since the latter did not then possess the complete secret, it follows that Aram's grasp of the subject was limited by what he was able to understand of what Mikail then knew and practiced.
Mikail said that he had learned both the formula and process while in the employ of Victoria; but he also said that in 1936 when Victoria revealed the secrets to him in their entirety, there were certain details which he had not known and which she then imparted to him.
The Bucharest venture was not a success. A purported sample was sent to Gretsch and resulted in an order for 100 pairs of cymbals, but the sample was not the product of the Bucharest partnership but was a K. Zildjian cymbal, the name upon which was mutilated for the purpose of obtaining the order; when delivery of the said 100 pairs of cymbals was made, they were found to be so inferior that no further orders could be obtained. It was in connection with the placing of that order that Gretsch entered into the contract which resulted in the registration of the trade mark, No. 228,592, which includes the name 'A. Zildjian & Cie.' The renewal of that makr was cancelled for the reason that when it was sought, Gretsch was not using the mark and had not for some years, although on the date of issue (June 17, 1927) it is plausible to suppose that the dissolution of the Bucharest partnership had not been effectuated. However that may be, the cancellation of that renewal registration is not before the court, since Gretsch has taken no steps to review the determination of the Examiner in that respect."
And most interesting is the following, especially bullet #8:
5. The name 'A. Zildjian & Co.' is not in fact or in legal effect the same designation as that originally employed by Kerope Zildjian when he first continued by business of his deceased brother, Avedis, but its use is justified on the part of the plaintiff as the successor to the partnership of which Aram Zildjian was a member in 1926.
6. The formula and process employed by the plaintiff in the manufacture of cymbals is secret, and the elements of the formula and the steps in the process are secret.
7. The formula and process employed by K. Zildjian & Co. of Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, Turkey, in the manufacture of cymbals is secret, and the elements of the formula and the steps in the process are secret.
8. The formula and process which Aram Zildjian brought to the United States in 1928 and caused to be practiced in Quincy, Massachusetts, in connection with his partners who are named in the consent decree, was something less and to that extent is different from the formula and process employed by Kerope Zildjian and his successors in the conduct of the enterprise maintained by Kerope Zildjian and those who are in legal succession to him, and who still manufacture cymbals in Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, in Turkey.
Which suggests that the secret as it was imparted by Aram to Avedis III was incomplete in some ways and therefore was not exactly the same in all respects as the secret originally employed since 1623 in the manufacture of the Turkish K's made in Istanbul.
