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A couple of points:

The term 'De Luxe' was applied to all the coloured 101s and 102s, not just the red leather ones ('coloured' in this context means anything other than black!)

The red leather 102 recently recovered from a flea market (congratulations!) is a 102A (i.e. with steel motor board but No 6 Autobrake. Therefore, it would originally have had a No 16 soundbox.

Oh, and that brown 'leather' 101 turned out not to be leather, but leathercloth, with 'antique' grain, as found on some ordinary brown101s (see page 201 of His Master's Gramophone)

Oedipus wrote:A couple of points:

The term 'De Luxe' was applied to all the coloured 101s and 102s, not just the red leather ones ('coloured' in this context means anything other than black!)

The red leather 102 recently recovered from a flea market (congratulations!) is a 102A (i.e. with steel motor board but No 6 Autobrake. Therefore, it would originally have had a No 16 soundbox.

Oh, and that brown 'leather' 101 turned out not to be leather, but leathercloth, with 'antique' grain, as found on some ordinary brown101s (see page 201 of His Master's Gramophone)

Thank you for your points. Yes you are right, HMV used to address all the coloured models as "De-Luxe" (specifically the Mod. 101 in faux crocodile leather cloth). For what I understand often as collectors we use the terms "HMV deluxe" referring to gramophones covered in real leather and equipped with gilded fittings.

Regarding the brown leather Mod. 101 please take a look at D. Cooper's book "HMV: the perfect portable". The gramophone was a one-off that has been displayed in Oxford str. in the HMV store. Apparently at some point it has been sent back to the factory to be upgraded (if I recall correctly with an auto brake and new winding handle clip in the lid).

Yes, I've seen the book, but I have also seen the gramophone; it belonged to Roger Thorne, who thought it was leather, but when I saw it, after he had died, it quite clearly wasn't. Don't believe everything you read in books!

Today I almost managed to complete the restoration of the machine. I am happy to share the following hoping it will be helpful information for anyone who will try to restore a Mod. 101 or 102 in red leather.

As previously specified the machine was completely covered in brown paint that I managed to remove using a water based "gel paint stripper/remover". After that the exposed leather appeared very dry and discoloured (however I suspect that the latter was not an effect of the chemical reaction with the paint). I then cleaned the leather thoroughly using warm water, a soft bristle brush and leather saddle soap and once it was dry I treated the whole case with Connolly hide care cream twice. This specific step really helped the leather regain its original softness and the original texture. Ultimately I re-coloured the leather using a mixture of Cherry Blossom cream ¾ "lipstick red" and ¼ Cherry red (a single but generous application and it was left to dry for few hours) and sealed everything with a final application of neutral shoe polish.

Regarding the gilded fittings the use of ammonia as suggested by Barry worked perfectly as you can see from the pictures. I also managed to gild again the lock and other small fittings that completely lost the original finish. This has been very painstaking because it was applied with brush and marks and other imperfections occurred frequently (the only way to obtain acceptable results was to lay down a very very thin layer of gilding paint/varnish, brushing it very lightly with 0000 steel wool, waiting for it to dry and repeat the whole process several times).

The horn has been repainted (in same original color) because the old paint flaked off extensively.

The motor has been completely dismantled, cleaned, polished (I know it is a little bit too much but I usually polish the entire motor ) and properly lubricated.

In the last picture are shown both the Mod. 102 and the Mod. 101 deluxe (which is in almost immaculate condition). Very interesting is the difference in color of the two turntable felts and horns.

P.s. I am still looking for some components that are missing please consider (viewtopic.php?f=20&t=47371&p=280495#p280495).

Great job! Nice pair of De Luxe portables. Thanks for sharing the process.

Andreas

Very well done, a marvel to look at!

alang wrote:Great job! Nice pair of De Luxe portables. Thanks for sharing the process.

Andreas

Thank you Andreas! My pleasure.

Marco Gilardetti wrote:Very well done, a marvel to look at!

Grazie Marco! Unfortunately some screws and bits are still missing and I find that cosmetically quite unpleasant.

In any case, interestingly the lid transfer is the english/UK one rather than its Italian version. I recall about Italian advertisements of the Mod. 101 deluxe (referred as "marocchino rosso") so presumably some of them had the Italian lid transfer too. I know that black and coloured Mod. 102s sold in Italy were marked as "La Voce del Padrone" however I never have seen the same for the Mod. 102 deluxe. I am wondering whether mine has been imported before or after being sold.

EDITED: found the Italian ad for the Mod.101 deluxe.

I also want to thank you for uploading the photos, and also in detail explaining the process, and what products you have used for your project. Vital information that will keep our hobby vibrant and living for both future collectors and restorers alike. Without this kind of information, it is easy to dismiss a picked up gramophone as unsalvagable, something that rarely is the case.

Great to see the two red HMV portables too side by side, for sure a Golden pair !

nostalgia wrote:I also want to thank you for uploading the photos, and also in detail explaining the process, and what products you have used for your project. Vital information that will keep our hobby vibrant and living for both future collectors and restorers alike. Without this kind of information, it is easy to dismiss a picked up gramophone as unsalvagable, something that rarely is the case.

Great to see the two red HMV portables too side by side, for sure a Golden pair !

Thank you for your kind comment. I could not agree more! What puzzled me the most was trying to find the right cream to stain the leather on the exterior that would match with the leather in the interior. I have to say that I have been very lucky in finding the right shade of red (product pictures are always misleading in terms of true tone due to many factors such as light condition, monitor screens etc. and one cannot predicts how the specific product will react once applied to the support).