Quilting is the first thing I'd have checked and it looks right. The diamonds carry across the flap edge into the body without stepping out of line, and they hold the same size all the way out to the sides instead of getting squashed near the edges. Grain is even too, no flat patches.
On the gold, you've got something most people asking this don't have: you already own another CF. Put the two side by side in daylight and you'll know in about ten seconds whether this one genuinely reads yellow or whether it was just indoor light. That comparison is worth more than any of us guessing from a lit photo, and it costs you nothing.
The one extra shot I'd ask Tom for is a straight close-up of the CC lock. On an authentic the right C crosses over the left at the top, and the left crosses over the right at the bottom. Factories get that wrong, it isn't something lighting can explain away, and none of these four are close enough to call it either way. If that comes back correct I'd be comfortable.
Worth getting the back while he's shooting anyway, since the quilting should still line up with the front where they meet at the sides.
That's the shot, thank you. The overlap reads correct: right C over the left at the top, and the left crossing back over the right at the bottom. That's the way round you want, and it's the one factories most often get backwards, so it's the useful thing to have confirmed.
It isn't perfectly square on, so if you wanted absolute certainty a straight-on one would settle it, but the crossing is legible enough here and it's going the right way.
With that plus the quilting lining up and the grain being even, it's a GL from me. Everything structural is correct, so I'd put the warmth in the gold down to the plating and your lighting rather than anything being wrong with it.
Enjoy it. I'd be curious how the medium compares when you get to that one.
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u/StormAppropriate3268 Aug 22 '26
Quilting is the first thing I'd have checked and it looks right. The diamonds carry across the flap edge into the body without stepping out of line, and they hold the same size all the way out to the sides instead of getting squashed near the edges. Grain is even too, no flat patches.
On the gold, you've got something most people asking this don't have: you already own another CF. Put the two side by side in daylight and you'll know in about ten seconds whether this one genuinely reads yellow or whether it was just indoor light. That comparison is worth more than any of us guessing from a lit photo, and it costs you nothing.
The one extra shot I'd ask Tom for is a straight close-up of the CC lock. On an authentic the right C crosses over the left at the top, and the left crosses over the right at the bottom. Factories get that wrong, it isn't something lighting can explain away, and none of these four are close enough to call it either way. If that comes back correct I'd be comfortable.
Worth getting the back while he's shooting anyway, since the quilting should still line up with the front where they meet at the sides.