[Buonarroti]

After countless attempts at getting an answer from Hardy, below is an email from a Hardy rep. addressing the Hardy Angel reel "country of origin" mystery.

"When the Angel reel was first introduced in 2005, all Hardy reels were made in England, including the Angel, and were clearly engraved as you say, with the "Made in England" engraving. This held true for all of 2006.

In the spring of 2007, it was Hardy's decision to eventually move the manufacture of these reels offshore to Korea, for economic reasons, and it is planned that the Angel Mark II which will be coming out in 2008 will be made entirely offshore.

It was also decided in the spring of 2007 to test the manufacturing capabilities of the Korean plant by doing test runs of the Angel Mark I (to which you refer). To this end, because it was assumed that some Angel Mark I reels might indeed be produced in Korea (if the quality was satisfactory), it was decided that a mixture of Korean and English made reels might be issued in 2007. Therefore the "Made in England" engraving was discontinued on reels produced in England in order that Angel reels sold in 2007, whether Korean or English made, for honesty's sake would not be labelled made in England, and that any Korean made reels would have a small black "Made in Korea" sticker affixed to the reel foot (clearly visible upon inspection).

In point of fact, Korean quality was not up to English standards on the Angel Mark I reels, and so no Angel Mark I reels of Korean manufacture were issued in 2007. I can therefore assure you that while your reel does not say "Made in England" it was in fact of English production.

In the meantime, the Korean plant has met (and some people say exceeded) former English quality standards, and as of January 1, 2008, all Angel Mark II reels will be clearly labelled and made in Korea. I have seen prototype examples of these reels and they are superb in every way. As I am sure you are aware, this is only a foretaste of things to come, as Korea, China and Japan have become the factories for the world, and from cameras to cars they have excelled in this role at far less cost than European and North American companies have been able to achieve".