A. Zildjian Cymbal Stamp Timeline

A. ZILDJIAN CYMBAL STAMP DATE TIMELINE
Chronology of the A.Zildjian logo

From the first cymbals in 1929 to the late 1970s Avedis Zildjian cymbals were available in many sizes and weights and odd shaped models like Swish, Pang and the Flanged HiHats, all made from the same "secret" material. All these cymbals wear the A.Zildjian logo pressed into the brass. In the late 1970s Zildjian started with their name in ink stamps. First only on the bottom with the Zildjian name logo in open black script logo. In the 1980s the ink stamps appear on top and bottom with the solid black Zildjian script logo and new models were added, K.Zildjian and the Z series. At the same time experiments with different alloys resulted in the (cheaper) Amir and the Scimitar series but so far we stay focused on the pre-ink stamp period cymbals.

Here are some pictures of A.Zildjian cymbal trademarks as found on older cymbals I have owned. The comments and dating are based on what I've learned from William Hartrick's article in Classic Drummer and my own common sense like cymbals that came with certain sets believed to be bought at the same time. Let me know if you have more info!

	1930's A.Zildjian 8 inch paperthin splash, note the "J" in ZILDJIAN, not a nice round bottom as in the later stamps. This is one of the first stamps since 1929. Hard to see in this photo is the "genuine turkish cymbals, made in usa" but it's there, it's a complete logo.
	1937 This is a 12 1/4 inch A. Zildjian paper-thin cymbal and came with a Leedy 1937 trapset.
	1937 Paper-Thin A. Zildjian 12 3/4 inch cymbal Clue: Pre-war cymbals have the straighter Pre-Round-Bottom "J". After WW2 A. Zildjian used the Round Bottom "J".
	This stamp has the prewar arabic script and a very low 'made in usa'. This Zildjian logo is from a 14 inch, 1038 gram cymbal. Nice hihat bottom for todays standards, but maybe a 'ride' in 1941?
	Late 1940s/ 1950s Stamps pressed harder on the outside, the Z and Co are deeper, like on this 13 inch hihat cymbal. This is a smaller logo. Zildjian used these in the late '40 and '50s. Notice the absence of the 3 dots in the Arabic logo
	1950s Here we have the hollow-block-lettering Zildjian logo as on a '50s 21 inch med-thin ride.
	1950s Here we have the hollow-block-lettering Zildjian logo as on a '50s 20 inch ride.
	Late 1950s/ 1960s Zildjian logo of a 15 inch hihat top. It is missing the 3 dots in the U-shape of the Arab-script part (see next picture) This logo is also used in the mid '70s in combination with the hollow ink stamp Zildjian on bottom of cymbal.
	1960s logo of a 13 inch hihat top cymbal.
Stamp pictures ©Winnie Mensink

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