The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

mariof wrote:Do we know of many grey / taupe examples?

The Grey (which often fades to Taupe in old age) version is as rare as the Brown, and for the same reason. These colours were unpopular when new and were discontinued early in the 102's long production life. The deluxe Red Leather version with gilt fittings is also rare. It was just too expensive to sell in quantity, and was also discontinued early.

The Grey version is the one that I still need to complete my set of the catalogued 102's. Here are the rest in my collection :

mariof wrote:Do we know of many grey / taupe examples?

Here's mine. The only coloured 102 I don't have is the brown, but to compensate, I have the "Colonial" 114 in brown.

That looks as clean as they come . I am surprised that you did not bid for the recent brown 102 which sold for only £112, a price which allowed for some remedial work.

I admit to being absolutely paranoid about condition. If that brown one needed the redundant screw holes in the lid filled, my eye would have been drawn to the repair every time I opened the lid, no matter how good a job it was. I spend a fortune on having exterior fittings re-plated, but my satisfaction in seeing them gleaming outweighs any feelings of guilt about spending sometimes more than the machine is worth. I'm afraid I'm not a subscriber to the "keep it absolutely original" school of thought, as far as I'm concerned, rust is NOT original! As for patched leathercloth.... let's not go there!