Jürgen,
Just to give some details on the Alpa Rosewood grips:
They are not faded. Wood is a natural product, as you mentioned it, and as such not identical to each other.
Alpa cameras are not cameras produced in mass-series, with cheap materials. The wood grips are for instance polished without any tracks of machining, finely polished and finished, until being perfect. That finish can be felt when one takes such a grip in the hands, as well how it holds in the hand. These grips have made their proves since over 15 years, when they were first produced.
There are for instance 2 Swiss manufacturers for the grips, for the
ALPA 12 WA /
ALPA 12 SWA and for the
ALPA 12 TC /
ALPA 12 STC /
ALPA 12 MAX. They are using the wood from the same batch, even from the very same three.
We are even making sure that those threes are coming from a 100% ecological production.
Obviously, the colors can and do differ from one camera to another. But that makes also each Alpa camera unique.
And on a side note, Alpa has also produced some grips with other wood sorts, like beech, oak and ebony, as well as with special materials, for special customer orders.
Thierry
Unfortunately the color of some rose wood grips is a bit faded . But it is a natural material and every grip is unique .