Patented and produced in 1894, and one of the first metalwoods ever used in the game of golf, this 44 1/4 inch-long metalwood driver is a fabulous club! Plus the clean leather insert, with its unworn fine scoring lines, shows that this club was not used much at all.

Braddell metalwoods were usually sold with a dull, non-reflective aluminum finish, but this example is the more expensive "special version." The  aluminum is polished to provide a more attractive, shiny surface. Any Braddell club is rare to begin with, but when found they are usually in rough shape.  The aluminum head is easily dented and marked up.  There are also marks on the surface of this driver, but they are comparatively quite minor, nothing like what is found on typical a Braddell.

This club is quite ingenious, with more to it than meets the eye. It's inventor, Charles Playfair, was trying to combine the durability of a metal head with the fell of wood. So he designed the inside of this metal head to hold a wood block directly behind the leather insert, which is nailed in place.  You can still see the tiny nail holes that anchor this insert to the inner wood block.  The leather is also wider at the back than at the front, so the insert would be keyed in place and not come loose on the sides. 

The crown of this club is stamped "Braddell, 1113, Patent" and "Mitchell Manchester."  Mitchell was a retail establishment located in Manchester, England, that retailed a variety of golf items among other things.

TCA2 V1 p337