Hardy Brass Perfect reel with solid drum

It’s always good news when you find an oddball variant of any reel.

Hardy were not strangers to fulfilling customer requirements with one off or low volume production items.

These two reels fall into the latter case.

The vast majority of Hardy Perfect reels have some form of ventilation or holes in the drum face.

Both of the reels here, the all brass model pre-1900 and a brass face example post-1900 have the solid drum faces.

Perhaps only 10 years apart in manufacturing terms, these are both hard to find examples for the collector.

Why it was done is a bit of a mystery.  The drums are robust enough with the vents, so why make it heavier without?

The good news is these unusual modifications or alterations add value to an already rare reel.

These examples are for sale here: Pre-1900 and Post-1900