ELITE California

Eggerling has previously crafted some pretty masterful Damascus patterns for Cabot, but our wildest expectations were exceeded with the steel used to create these California pistols. After stripping the heavy coating from the pencil-thick cable bundles, Robert—somehow—forged completely unique billets of Mosaic Damascus that contain images of the Golden Gate Bridge within the steel!

Each slide of The California features two Golden Gate bridges, deliberately positioned where you would expect front and rear cocking serrations. To maximize the visual aesthetic, we employed a monolithic slide design to allow for maximum exposure of the exquisite Mosaic Damascus. In our attempt to push the boundaries of finishing possibilities, we employed a never-before-used selective etching process to create a deep etch of the bridge at the place of rear cocking serrations, the top of the slide and the trigger. The California pistols could easily have been ruined by this technique. We risked it because deep etching was expected to yield an uncommon, sculpted appearance that would be a perfect complement to the hand-polished, 2-micron mirror finish for the remaining aspects of the slide. We think you’ll agree, the reward was well worth the risk.

Each aspect of this Damascus dazzles with an exquisite variance of colors and presents a collage of individual designs, resembling Beeple mosaic photo art, only with Golden Gate steel as the medium. It is truly extraordinary. All four limited edition pistols feature a custom serial number ranging from GOLDENGATE1 to GOLDENGATE4. To top it all off, we crafted the front sights from solid 14k gold—a small but striking homage to the California gold rush—complete with