Ari T Hart had to survive some hijackings
Whatever really happened in the company transfers I don't know in detail. My impression is that it never came in fair form for Ari T Hart. This is tragic and very sad.
Since there are always misunderstandings and misjudgments in this context, I have put together some information below (if there are any mistakes on my part, please send me a feedback).
It is clear that no 'reel' collector of Ari T Hart items will include any of these reels in his collection.
Ari T Hart, 2016:
"I have worked with different people and have always chosen the wrong one, had too much confidence.
That too much trust has always broken me. But I am the way I am, I wouldn't want to change myself. Money interests me much less than the freedom to do what I want. There is no one who says to me: you have to do this or you have to do that. Luckily, I can figure that out myself. Everyone would like such an attitude, but that is not always possible.
I have restarted six times. Fortunately, I have a woman that I have been with for 50 years and who has always stood behind me.
If I hadn't had Astrid, I could never have done this. She is someone who takes care of me completely.”
ATH Design International Ltd., Denmark [1996-2004?]
Source: The magazine "De Vissende Verzamelaar", Clubblad van de Vereniging Hengelsport
Verzamelaars , Nr. 45 / 2016 Ari T Hart (1) and Nr. 47 / 2017 Ari T Hart (2), 2016, Harry Kelly and Patrick Mercy enjoyed a unique opportunity to visit the workshop of and talk with Ari T Hart”
“Then suddenly the dark Danish period comes up for discussion. Stolen blueprints, copies made from inferior materials, poor colors. It happened to him, Ari tells. As an artist who was more concerned with a fresh output of new models, he could not deal enough with keeping drawings in order, organizing patent changes, conducting lawsuits. He chose bankruptcy as a means of survival. Six weeks later, the new company registered. From that moment on, he took matters into his own hands again. Drawings stay in the safe; prototypes are not shown to anyone (we feel very privileged) production and assembly is done by Ari himself.”
THE DANISH PERSPECTIVE (1/2) For several years, Johnny Fisker had worked on developing a first-class fly tying vise (“Dan-Vise”) together with his brother-in-law Thorkild Damm in Aarhus. But a competitor in Aarhus copied the idea - with entrepreneurship from the Danish state - and thus it was over with that scam. Johnny decided to shut down production and focus on other and more lucrative products. In that time an opportunity arose when the Dutch reel designer and manufacturer Ari T Hart went bankrupt for the third or fourth time with his company ATH. Johnny Fisker stood ready behind the scenes and bought / took over the bankruptcy estate - with drawings, design and the right to continue producing under the name well known in serious fly fishing circles. It was the start of “ATH Design”, which was established in Aarhus (Denmark), where brother-in-law Thorkild had been full-time on the project. Thorkild was a committed fly fisherman who, with 25 years of experience in machinery and metal, had already designed several fly reels for himself and his friends. Thorkild reckons that the annual production of ATH wheels from Aarhus will in future be just over 2,000 wheels, which will typically be sold at prices between 2,000 and 3,000 kroner. Ari T Hart gave up the following Designs and reel series: The F-series, the S-series, the Remco and the AR. The Danish company manufactured the F-series and S-series nearly identically like Ari T Hart did. But they never produced a F4 (only F1, F2, F3) and they never produced a S0 (only S1, S2 and S3 … yes also a S3 … Klaus Geschwinder did in his book a little fault). Differences were only slightly: some color variants and a plastic knob for the clicker instead a metal one. Also these reels are great for fishing with a high reliability and quality … but the small differences and that Ari T Hart wasn’t the producer make the big difference for any Ari T Hart collector. Same with the Remco. The Danish company built that reel in two different sizes and mostly in black/gold color combination which Ari T Hart never produced. Ari’s AR reel wasn’t continued in the original design. The Danish company did a redesign of it.
Catalog of ATH Design Denmark page 1
Catalog of ATH Design Denmark page 2
Catalog of ATH Design Denmark page 5
Catalog of ATH Design Denmark page 1
Product range of ATH Design Denmark after the take-over of Ari T Harts company ATH Design Holland
THE DANISH PERSPECTIVE (2/2) The new Aarhus models are still built on the same basic design as the original ATH reels. They will thus, as far as possible, retain the unique design that Ari T Hart. This includes an oversized one-way disc brake, which is integrated into the thick spool shaft via an expensive one-way needle bearing. A back piece, which in several cases is minimized to a light triangular plate. As well as a characteristic stainless steel ring that effectively protects the aluminum coil from shocks and impacts. All parts were milled out of solid aluminum, which is then polished and surface treated, depending on the purpose. NOTE reels thus consist exclusively of machine-milled metal parts, which are screwed together. A construction that is expensive to manufacture, but at the same time ensures something almost unlimited service life. Everything can be replaced and repaired should the need arise. All other reel designs were created without any input from Ari T Hart. Nevertheless, these reels are often associated with Ari's name when sold - probably to achieve a higher price!? Thorkild Damm had outsourced the production of individual parts to a handful of Danish subcontractors, each of whom is a specialist in their particular field. The pieces thus arrived in Aarhus, where Thorkild assembled the vast majority of ATH reels. But there was also time to develop new fly reels, which not based on Ari T Hart’s design. Among the most "impressive" are the "Salmon" and "Seatrout" reels with double braking system but not for the interest of a “reel” Ari T Hart collector.
How to recognize the original Ari T Hart reels?
Don't be further confused!
Remco of Ari T Hart vs danish Remco fly reel
Original F-series and S-Series of Ari T Hart vs ATH Denmark fly reels
Original AR reel of Ari T Hart vs ATH Denmark fly reel
Remco of Ari T Hart vs danish Remco fly reel
Find answers what is original designed by Ari T Hart and what
are the reels of danish company ATH Design
Dutch reels [2002 - 2009?]
I can't tell you exactly what really happened in that time period. But I found the following comment – Source: theflyfishingforum.com, Peter Wuijster, Aug 2, 2008:
“In my country Dutch reels are totally out. I guess you know that they come from my country. You have to know the story behind to understand why. Ari 't Hart, the famous artist, is thrown by side like garbage by the factory which producing the Dutch Reels now. In Holland they all know that, and they all like Ari, that’s why. The reels are not what they used to be. In the past they were handcrafted, but now it's only a machined product. You will pay much for less quality.”
DUTCH REELS "THE ORIGINAL" has been a trademark registered by Peter Johannes Elberse on Friday, September 24, 2004, as a U.S. federal trademark registration. The international registration had been canceled July 8th, 2005. Peter Elberse was Ari T Hart’s sales manager of Ari’s company ARI T HART International B.V. [1996 to 2003]! Owner Peter Elberse has been working in the fishing trade since January 1, 1989 until today. Elberse International, also known as elbi, was founded on January 1, 2001. It is a major fly-fishing wholesale company of the Netherlands which distributed also Ari T hart reels of Ari’s company ‘ARI T HART International B.V. [1996 to 2003]’. On the not longer available Dutch reel website you could read in the beginning: “1995 was the year that "THE ORIGINAL" came on the market for the first time. Since the year 2000 we produce reels under the Dutch Reels name. For ten years now we produce beautiful, but also high quality fly-reels. The reels are made in a factory in Mijdrecht, close to Amsterdam. In the factory of Enev BV the different parts are machined and milled on hypermodern machines. The assembly of the reels is also done in Mijdrecht. A 100% "Made in Holland" product therefore.” This statement is confusing (or better to say unfair?!): Check Ari’s Logo of his company Ari T Hart International B.V., founded in 1995 – it included the words “THE ORIGINAL”. Also during that company period Ari supplier / cooperation partner was the company Enev B.V. which still exists today.
Under the direction (starting 2002/2003) of Elberse/Dutch reels the MACH series with a change of the bearing solution were produced by them (Ari’s MACH 0 design were never manufactured by them as far as I know). During the start phase they introduced the Dutch 1, 2, 3 and 3LA – that were nothing else than Ari’s MACH reels beside a change of the front plate (four instead of two holes) and a change of color from silver to titanium. These reels as well as the MACH reels got in 2002 now a needle lock bearing instead of Ari’s bearing solution. Also, the Ari T Hart’s LA II, III, IV (but not LA I and V) were produced by Elberse/Dutch reels (available colors: titanium, silver-blue, silver-gold and green). I don’t know it exactly but my hypothesis is that Elberse/Dutch reels took over the last available stock of Ari T Hart International B.V. after Ari’s company were finally closured in 2003. So, the wholesaler Elberse were able to sell out Ari’s last available stock of Mach, LA, ARI, Round, Triangle, Hart I + AR series. But in a short periode of time (2003/2004) may some reels of Ari T Hart International had been produced by the Dutch reels. It's nearly not possible for the fellow collector to identify these reels which still have Ari T Hart's logo on it. End of 2004 the company changed the Logo and reduced the available reel range. My guess is that perhaps after a final legal clarification, the use of Ari T Hart's name as well as its core logo has been banned. This could also have led to the Dutch reels product range being very limited under the new logo. In my view, the fate of their fly reel businesses was sealed.
Original reels by Ari T Hart vs Dutch reels
Later on, you could only find the name “Dutch reels” on the newly designed Dutch 0 to 3 as well as on LA II, III, IV but on no other reel. Theses Dutch 0 to 3 reels may base on Ari’s technology but wasn’t designed by Ari T Hart – for a ‘reel’ Ari T Hart collector it is not relevant to collect.
With so called limited edition (just color versions) of Dutch 0 to 3 they tried to sail hard in the shadow of Ari T Hart’s success - but without any reasonable effect.
Dutch reel which was never a design by Ari T Hart
The first recorded Dutch reel website had been April 8, 2002. End of 2004 (November?) the Logo was changed. 2005 Dutch reel started to re-style stepwise their website. From 2009 / 2010 the website was no longer accessible.
