|
Title: Dating Zildjians Post by: Bart Elliott on January 28, 2008, 11:41 PM I had someone contact me about a week ago, trying to date these Zildjian cymbals. Based on the description they sent me, here was my response ...
Quote The name "Constantinople" was changed to "Istanbul" in 1930, so that means your cymbal is older than 70 years ... UNLESS ... the cymbal is actually stamped "A Zildjian & Co. Genuine Constantinople Cymbals", which was used on a few models in the late 1970's. The letter "A" in the stamp proves that the cymbals were not made in Turkey, which is where the K Zildjian factory was. If your cymbal says "Made In Turkey" and just says "Zildjian & Co." and "Constantinople", I am 99.9% sure that your cymbal was made prior to 1930. To be exact, however, I'd have to see the cymbals ... but even then I don't know that I would be able to do any better. Well ... they sent me a few photos, close up shots of the logo ... and I'm not thinking these are pre-1930's but rather 1970's cymbals.
The lathing doesn't look right to be a pre-30's; and I own a pre-30's Zildjian. The stamp isn't what I thought it was from his original description. I don't know that I've seen these kind of stamps before. Any thoughts? Title: Re: Dating Zildjians Post by: Chris Whitten on January 28, 2008, 11:46 PM If they are 1) Constantinople, 2) Zildjian and 3) Made In Turkey, they have to be pretty old, certainly pre 70's.
Zildjian produced a line of Constantinoples in the 70's/80's, but I think they were generally 'brilliant' finish and would have had 'Made In USA' on the stamp. I'm afraid the place to research this is www.cymbalholic.com You can search without being a member. If I had the time I would do it for you. :-\ Title: Re: Dating Zildjians Post by: Bart Elliott on January 29, 2008, 12:10 AM As I mentioned in my original post, I cited the factual information about the wording. These, from my understanding and resource books, can only be one of two things:
1) The 70's Zildjians that stamped the cymbals using the "A Zildjian & Co. Genuine Constantinople Cymbals" line. 2) Pre 1930's. I've just never seen the stamp as seen in the photos. These aren't my cymbals and I have a lot better things to do than do a bunch of free research for someone. I love to help people, but I have my limits. ;D I just thought someone here on the forum had seen this particular stamp configuration before. And FYI ... the individual contacted Zildjian directly ... and they were no help. So there you go! Title: Re: Dating Zildjians Post by: Chris Whitten on January 29, 2008, 12:15 AM These aren't my cymbals and I have a lot better things to do than do a bunch of free research for someone. I love to help people, but I have my limits. ;D Me too. You could point them towards that cymbal site. Quote I just thought someone here on the forum had seen this particular stamp configuration before. Well maybe. It'll be interesting to see. Title: Re: Dating Zildjians Post by: bolweevil on January 29, 2008, 08:54 AM If they are 1) Constantinople, 2) Zildjian and 3) Made In Turkey, they have to be pretty old, certainly pre 70's. Zildjian produced a line of Constantinoples in the 70's/80's, but I think they were generally 'brilliant' finish and would have had 'Made In USA' on the stamp. I have a 70s A-Constantinople Ride, and it does indeed have "Made in USA" on the stamp, written just below a star and crescent moon logo. Below that is stamped "A-Zildjian and Cie" and below that "Constantinople" Based on the pics and the description of your cymbal, I would say it's not a 70s model. |