PVD finishes are used in the aerospace industry, and is also used on firearms, but the traditional limitation is that the standard colors are black.

Over the next two years we worked with a supplier to develop this color and ultimately completed a pistol set in January 2015. I called the color Cabot Blue. The result was exactly what I had envisioned. The chemistry formula to create a color like this is extremely involved and is developed by folks who have doctorate degrees in the chemistry required.

On the preparation side, each component is meticulously made and polished by hand with no automation allowing the flats to be perfect flats and the edges not rounded. The art of hand polish is a mostly dead trade and the level of polish required is what is referred to as a 2 micron finish. Each pistol can range in polishing time from 33 to 50 hours. One major obstacle is that after polishing we have to rely on the supplier to handle every component and that process.

The PVD process involves fixturing each component in an industrial vacuum chamber where the chemicals are atomized, eventually bonding to the components. There is a random factor to this process whereby components may not be completely covered uniformly. In such an instance, the entire pistol will have to be stripped down again and re-polished again requiring as many hours as the first time. Also, any handling errors in fixturing the parts which are meticulously prepared and will require starting over.

In any event, the pistol set that was completed was shown at SHOT Show 2015 and received great acclaim. With a solution in hand, I accepted a commission to make another pistol with the "Cabot Blue".

The next gun was a nightmare to complete and took another two years to complete. The PVD supplier damaged components in handling and the components required multiple attempts, each time required extensive refinish work until we were satisfied. After that gun, the PVD supplier who we worked with, who happens to be a large international specialist who does high end work for companies such as Rolex told me that they would not accept any further work from us because we were too picky.

Completely disheartened that so much development time, effort and aggravation the Cabot Blue finish was abandoned but not forgotten. Never one to give up on an idea, back in early 2017, we identified a new PVD supplier who was willing to try to recreate this wonderful color for Cabot.

My dream was to produce 10 units. The first unit of this conceived series was completed in early 2018. It was serial number CG-LTD-01. It turned out beautifully! The serial number CG-LTD-01 stands for Cabot Guns, Limited Edition and the series was to comprise CG-LTD-01 to CG-LTD 10.

We showed this pistol at IWA 2018 where Fabiano saw the gun. At around that time we also shared the first photos on social media and the pistols sold out immediately before they made it to the website. After placing these on the website many, many people wanted to order one.

Confident with a new solution on hand, we proceeded to make the remaining nine pistols. What we anticipated as being a 12-month process ending up taking almost two years. As life is never simple to create something unique and beautiful the finish was like capturing lightning in a bottle.

We expect one of two attempts to get a finish like this completed, however, the Cabot Blues involves four attempts to complete. Each time requiring extensive work. It was frustrating, difficult and involved a tremendous amount of work and patience to complete. I believe many folks would have given up. In fact, only 9 of the 10 pistols were completed. One of the pistols was accidentally damaged.

While a standard blue finish with the level of polish can be reproduced, I do not believe we will go through the heartache and headache to ever attempt this again. Not for publication, but we lost track of costs on the project, but we would have been better off abandoning the project from an economic standpoint.

The late great S.P. Fjestad, author of the Blue Book of Gun Values, which is considered the Bible of gun reference manuals, saw the Cabot Blue at the 2018 IWA show. He shared with me that he felt the pistol was the finest gun at IWA that year. This was a great compliment to say the least.

These guns will hold a special place in the history of Cabot. Two of these nine pistols are in Italy which makes me proud to know they are in the country of my ancestors. It is my most sincere wish that these will be a legacy piece that will be enjoyed for generations.