Confusing wooden knobs

There are some unusual wooden knobs in the market causing some mistakes. Knob centers have ¾″ diameter insets with either a woman's portrait or a clock face. Knob bodies are turned Philippine mahogany.

The insets are created by covering a printed paper image with a cap of clear plastic. Printing is extremely high quality; look twice with a 10X loupe to detect the dot structure of modern color printing.

Clock knobs–which read "Anglo-Swiss Watch Co, Calcutta" have been used to create fantasy "watchmakers" and "advertising" cabinets. The unknown portrait has appeared on small "jewel chests". New knobs with other insets are probably out there.

Generally, it's wise to be suspicious of anything made of Philippine mahogany which is widely used in modern reproductions from furniture to toys. Another good test is to use your black light. The plastic caps fluoresce brightly under long wave black light. They appear opaque white and completely hide the printed images.

Fig. 1 Close up views of insets in new wooden knobs. Very high quality color printing on paper protected under hard plastic caps. The caps appear to be virtually identical to glass when tapped.

Fig. 2 Knobs with insets retail for under $8 each. Knobs are soild wood, threaded for machine screws.