In terms of rarity, the Black plate raised text, rimless chassis grease bearings are rarer than hammertone 301's. The chassis were cast in the same molds. the raised text face plates are the same however the flat (almost mat) off white finish of these units denote Garrards first experiments with purer alloys during casting which allowed the move from hammer finish (used to hide imperfections) to a more domestic aesthetic. The serial number of this unit is in the 15000's whilst many suggest hammertone units run up to 15-16K it is interesting to note Garrard would have been producing both cream and hammertone at the same time. The rarity of the black plate rimless units is that they were transitional and relatively few were made by the Swindon Factory.(The next units produced being silver plate screen printed) followed shortly after by the addition of the rim to all subsequent grease and oil bearing chassis castings
14 сен 2017
