the "inlay" is actually small shapes of mother of pearl that were applied before painting. once painted (covering the MOP) they hand block sanded them until the paint and MOP were level. then goldwork applied, then shellac. Records indicate 20+ hours of hand sanding per machine. ONLY for the top tier customers. There is even one example I know of where the purchasers name was done into the pearl... Talk about wealthy...

So do you feel like a wealthy man? Or maybe more like lucky? Either way, it is a most beautiful machine as all have agreed. I keep going back and looking at your photos as I cannot get over it's beauty.

I really wish that the phots could properly convey how "Jewel like" this machine is.

I thought the same thing: The shimmering colour effect is completely lost in a photograph.

:DNow that is obviously a man's feeling...once a jewel or a whole big jeweled item has the jewels exposed, we women can spot the beauties a mile away without photographic proof of the worth of the gems. (LOL). Come to think of it, you did a darn good job in recognizing the jewels and in exposing their beauty.:thumbup: Thanks so much for sharing the joy of your discovery with us all.

Donna

Steve - do you have any information/links about the process? That is something I'd love to try - not sure if I can find a source for MOP or not.

I have not put the research together (working on different part of site currently...) but I will add some MOP in an envelope to your boxes.

Thanks for those links Steve. All those machines are beautiful and would have a top spot in any collection but a couple are completely over the top. Just incredible. I had no idea.
Rodney

I've found some sources for MOP veneer sheets - not overly expensive, and a wide variety to choose from. My little White needs a new paint job and it's one of the older machines I have. Not that I have time for another project in the near future.