Some notes re my own Polo14 in 3-band Super Badger. I'm not going to be brief, but I have some pictures to illustrate my observations.
First, this is a spectacular brush, and yes, I will use it. Dimensions, noting that all Simpson brushes from an earlier period were each a little different:
- Knot: 33mm
- Loft: 63mm
- Handle: 82mm
- Total height:145mm
Note the dimension differences of today's brush:
- Knot: 31mm
- Loft: 58mm
- Handle: 82mm
- Total height: 140mm
Here is mine after its first wash, showing the natural bloom:
I can immediately see that this is very much in the shape and style of the Nimmer Mills brushes. The decal is the older 'water' type designed to eventually slide off but revealing 'Simpson' stamped underneath. It is not a 'sticker' that you now see on later, Vulfix brushes.
Second, the lamp-black is stamped or indented into the handle. Later Carter-era brushes have lamp black, but in those examples, it tends to sit right at the surface with little evident indentation.
On this brush, there is evidence of double-stamping, and possibly a first failed decal application. Double layering. Touching the lamp-black produced a smudge, so I carefully cleaned it and cautiously applied a thin layer of nail varnish over both the stamping and decal. Hardly noticeable 24 hours later. Some purists might not like that, but I like to preserve the details.
The loft is absolutely beautiful; nice white tips; plenty of backbone, and yes, it whips up and yields a very generous lather. Despite the bulk, it is better IMO than the larger lofts of today's Simpson's offerings, which I think cram in too much hair and have a shorter loft. This Polo is an eminently usable firm yet soft brush.
Some of you will know that when Simpson sold the business off to Carter/Woodhouse some time in 1990, they used a different lathe set up to turn the handles. At that point in time, master-lather Stan Archer had taken retirement, along with Beryl Parsons who had tied the knots. This is not a handle turned by Archer, but the loft certainly looks like one tied by someone as skilled as Parsons. It is superb.
With the change over, the new electric lathes were so different that the remaining turners (including a man called "Russell", as far as my researches go) had some difficulty adjusting. The old water-turned lathe was brought up from Nimmer and adapted, but there were still issues, including 'chipping' of the resin. On this Polo example, I think you can see, upon close inspection, some trace evidence of this issue.
Inside the concave base, you can see lathe lines but also a bit of a blur at the centre, rather than the neat tiny Stan Archer circle/dot or similar. Also, you can see a slight 'frosting' which is really micro-flecking. Very micro. I have no problem with this. It tells the story of adapting to the new lathing process:
Next picture shows the obvious lathing lines near the base. I like them, but Stan Archer may not have. His lathing was very fine indeed. Look also to the rim edge: a bit of 'frost', not the uniform clean, mirror shine of the earlier lathed Nimmer Mills brushes:
In summary: I have what I think is a transition brush, dating at the earliest 1989, latest 1991. I may have this all wrong, and I'd like to be corrected if anyone has better information.
Gary Young (Simpson family) advised buyers to see if they could pick up a Catalin brush from the mid-80s when, he said, Simpsons (Nimmer Mills days) were producing their best-ever brushes. Simpson continued using Catalin until the late 80s, but this Polo is not Catalin. Hence my date attribution. In a certain light, the handle can take on a rosy hue but perhaps that's just my imagination. Not sure.
Of course, you can see that the handle shape and loft of this example is very much in keeping with the earlier Simpson Polo brushes (image of the Polo trio in above post). It came from a suitcase full of brushes from the David Carter estate.
Question: was it a 'second', but still suitable as a sales model? No matter to me. I love it and will look after it. I have an extra-large Simpson tube coming in the post.
I hope I haven't taken up too much space here, or your time. Your comments would be very welcome.
I hope someone proves me wrong!!