Aston Martin - original 1960s David Brown keyfob badge remounted onto a new leather keyfob

This keyring is NOT an original 1960s Aston Martin David Brown torpedo keyring !

It is a new leather keyfob with an original David Brown badge which we would assume to have originally been mounted onto a torpedo keyfob .

This keyring has an original David Brown Aston Martin keyfob badge which we would think will have been produced in the late 1960s which we have remounted onto a new hinged torpedo shape keyfob as can be seen in the photos .

We would think that this badge ( which we received unattached from it’s original leather keyfob ) will have been produced by CUD or Craftsman who made the original torpedo keyrings at the time – but badges like this one intended for surface mounting were not marked on the reverse as any mark would not be visible of course .

We have chosen to remount the badge onto this hinged torpedo keyfob which was not an original keyfob shape used at the time .

Our reason for this is that so the keyring can never be confused with a genuine original torpedo keyring which would have a much higher value than this keyring with a remounted badge .

We have just this one example of this keyring with this original badge to offer – when it has been sold this listing will be cancelled.

The David Brown Aston Martin wings badge in jewellery quality vitreous enamel is a very intricate example of vitreous enamelling and this badge is in good condition with some slight crazing of the enamel which can be seen in the enlarged high resolution listing photos .

The badge is of quite an involved design with many different fields of cream enamel with a central block of dark navy blue enamel.

Badges identical to this one were mounted onto original CUD & Craftsman torpedo keyrings in the late 1960s .

We can only remember having ever listed just two original examples of Aston Martin David Brown torpedo keyrings with this badge – and they were both some time ago.

Original torpedo keyrings are exceptionally rare .

Original David Brown Aston Martin torpedo keyrings are much rarer than original Jaguar torpedo keyrings which became so valuable & collectible that Bud Marston in USA has written a book entitled ‘Vintage Jaguar keyrings’ which is featured at the start of our Jaguar section here in this website shop.

Jaguar cars were very much more numerous than Aston Martin cars in the 1960s – hence far more keyrings were produced for Jaguars .

The torpedo keyrings were made by Castles Unit Developments Ltd of Castle Gate, Leicester ( CUD ) who changed their name to Craftsman in the late 1960s and the keyrings will have been made during the late 1960s .

CUD were the only manufacturers of torpedo keyrings at the time and were famous from the late 1950s and right through the 1960s for the quality of their products which were exported worldwide.

At that time almost all keyrings for the world’s motor cars were made in England – it was quite an industry

This badge will be original & correct for use with 1963 -1966 DB5, 1965 -1970 DBS, and early 1967 onwards DBS – but please bear in mind that the leather keyfob which the badge is attached to is a new item .

Mounting the badge onto a non- original style of keyfob is a convenient way of marketing the badge and does have the advantage of allowing the badge to continue in use in a car without the inconvenience of the splitring being at 90 degrees to the keyfob as was the case with original torpedo keyrings – the originals went out of use largely because in use they did not lay flat against the dashboard as ‘ conventional’ keyrings do .

The keyring in the photos is the actual one which you will receive .