This is very much a "rescue" stick, having been sadly neglected by a previous owner. When I came across it, the surface was dull and lifeless; lacquer was flaking off the shaft, and the whole stick was very dirty and liberally splashed with the ubiquitous white paint. I was obliged to completely strip off the old finish, give the bamboo a good feed of linseed oil, and re-finish it with a couple of very thin coats of Tru_Oil. The resulting finish is very pleasing, retaining the aged appearance of the cane without appearing "modern" or artificial.

The gold band is in excellent condition with no dents. The London hallmark of 1957 identifies it as 18k gold, and it bears the stamp of the firm Brigg of London - possibly the most well-known and respected of all English commercial stickmakers. An ornate monogram is engraved on the band. I'm not very good at reading these, but I think it might be "AM" (or "MA").

There are one or two small, shallow and very superficial cracks in the surface of the shaft, but I do not expect these to cause any problems. Needless to say, the original ferrule was missing and I have replaced this with a new steel-tipped brass one, using hot-melt glue for ease of future replacement.

This stick is very comfortable in use and offers plenty of support.