Microprint on Warranty Seals

[hewholooks]

How consistant have you folks found the microprinting on the warranty seals?

At best I have found the letters mostl legible but with areas that could not be read and at worst, none of the letters can not be read at all. This range of quality is from about ten boxes from four different online vendors and all are, I believe, reliable vendors. The boxes of cigars that have these seals appear legit with all other signs pointing to them being the real article and all cigars smoking as they should.

 

[Ginseng]

Have patience.

The warranty seal project is underway.

I've examined seals from the very first year that the new ones were issued to very recent specimens. In general, there appears to be a decline in clarity over the last six years.

We'll report more fully once the analysis has been completed.

In the mean time, let's hear what other folks have observed.

Wilkey

 

[alpi57]

Wilkey,

I have noticed that the seals after '03 have become smaller in diameter, both length and width. Have you noticed that too? As for clarity I haven't noticed any change. They all look pretty legible to me. Maybe because they are getting smaller, they are getting harder to read but they should nevertheless be legible.

 

[Ginseng]

Jon,

Which part of the warranty seal sticker are you referring to? The entire sticker or the UV visible imprint? Seal stickers from 2000 and 2001 are larger than from 2002 onward but this is based on only a few specimens so my confidence level is low regarding the exact changeover date.

There is definitely a degradation in clarity up through the 2005 time frame. I do not suppose microprinting plates have a very long life but I couldn't guess at the longevity or replacement frequency. I've noticed that certain regions of the microprinting are less clear than others.

Wilkey

I went back and checked and the large seals are present on AGO 02 boxes. I have a few boxes from the spring of 2003 that I'll go back and take a look at.

 

[alpi57]

I am pretty sure it was changed on '03. I am talking about the green "sello de garantia.....".

 

[Ginseng]

Jon,

I think you're right about this. It's the whole warranty seal sticker and it was very likely 2003.

Wilkey

 

[mmburtch]

I have 3 '06 seals, and the micro-printing is pretty bad. I can read about half of the words all told. Better than a photocopy, but nowhere near the quality I've seen in older pictures.

 

[vudu9]

Here's a scan of an up-close Cuban warranty sticker.

http://galleries.cigarweekly.com/vudu9/all...ker_cuba?full=1

 

[FXAdam]

In general, there appears to be a decline in clarity over the last six years.

That might just be a result of the printing dies/plates/whatever they use wearing out over time.

edit: Oh, I see you mention that a few posts later.