I am posting the email to me with the authors permission. I'm sure many of you "oldtimers" remember Rob Wells as a respected student of TK rings and he used to actively post here. He also wrote the foreword to the infamous Gottlieb TK Ring book BEFORE he saw the actual content! Jim
Hi Jim,
Having quickly read through the thread on WAF, a lot of opinion has been exchanged on this subject. The Italian gentleman (Scapini) clearly has his views - for whatever reason - but I think he is wrong. Most of the 'evidence' for the rings being die-stamped is logical and credible, and over the years has essentially become irrefutable, whereas the counter claims and associated explanations of them being cast don't really stand up to scrutiny, especially as acceptance of this position would immediately make (good) fakes much easier to pass-off as originals. Whether Scapini has a vested interest in this is unclear to me, but Gaspare has basically stated everything that needs to be stated - in the absence of any period documentation from Gahr. And if any such documentation were to magically surface, you can be sure it is fake paperwork being reverse-engineered to support some dealer's position. I don't know if CG is still actively promoting the cast theory, or whether he is even still in business, but cast TK rings are something I simply do not believe in.
