I was invited to acquire these wonderful antique brass-faced Hardy Perfect reels from the family of the owner. The design of one dates back to 1897 and the other is from 1905 or so. The original owner passed away in the 1950's at the age of 96 and it has taken something like 70 years for the family to decide to sell them off. I'm told the family of the original owner was very well off and the owner's time was spent fishing with these in Ireland and gardening. He must have had a light touch because these reels are in really good condition. I guess this makes me a Hardy Perfect collector.
So far I have learned to tell the age difference between these 2 early Hardy Perfect clicker assemblies. The drum on the larger reel has solid walls whereas most were perforated. That makes this one a little rarer. An observer just notified me that the foot on the smaller reel is probably nickel-silver instead of the usual brass. It never occurred to me that was an option and I have not tried to clean them yet so it wasn't obvious.
They are still out there (but these didn't come at garage sale prices).
Luckily, they look pretty clean already! Nice score, Paul! ...and yes, well advised to not do much cleaning on that leaded finish! It's very easily removed and those are pretty intact at the moment. I am poised to wander through Drewitt and see if I can find some factoids re that earlier reel.
j
ORCA member since 1999 Honorary Life Member
Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
