I think that guy was less than honest, the next party that picked up the project was indeed a brave soul and I hope he covered his costs after paying the factory for their work. In modern shears I really like the Wiss 20W and 22W. I own a couple of pairs of the modern Wiss 22W (the 12 inch version) and they are nice grunty precise shears, they just aren't as "sexy" as the big antique ones but they really work well.
I keep a few pairs of the older American made 20W (10 inch) shears and I use one very old pair as my trimmers (after fixing them) and they are both precise and capable of grunting through close to anything. The current big Wilkinson shears are beautifully made and lifetime investments but are expensive.
