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Post by curator2 on Sept 4, 2023 16:19:36 GMT -8
![]() Hello, I am looking for information on a pair of blue Cressi Rondine fins. I can't seem to upload a picture (darn it) but they are light blue women's fins. Slip on style, more shovel shaped fin, no grooves on fin body. They also have a triangular yellow patch near the ankle of each fin. This is the kicker for me as I've found a number of Cressi Rondine fins online but none with the yellow triangle. Will keep trying to figure out how to upload a picture as appreciate that there is probably little the community can do to ID without! Thanks heaps for any advice (on either). |
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Post by SeaRat on Sept 4, 2023 17:58:44 GMT -8
David Richie Wilson (DRW) here is our resident expert on fins of all types. He is in England, so it may be a day or so before he sees this and responds. He may be able to help. By the way, welcome here! You cannot directly upload photos here, but we use photo hosting services to post photos here. There are instructions on how to do that on this site. vintagescuba.proboards.com/board/8/tech-supportJohn |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Sept 4, 2023 21:48:55 GMT -8
David Richie Wilson (DRW) here is our resident expert on fins of all types. He is in England, so it may be a day or so before he sees this and responds. He may be able to help. By the way, welcome here! You cannot directly upload photos here, but we use photo hosting services to post photos here. There are instructions on how to do that on this site. vintagescuba.proboards.com/board/8/tech-supportJohn John is too kind in describing me as such. He has conducted his own scientific experiments with fin designs that outshine anything I could contribute to the field of fin development. I do have a collection of online auction fin images, however, including the following Cressi Rondine azure-blue model complete with black and yellow triangular patches on the top of the foot pockets: Can you confirm, first of all, that the fins above resemble the ones of your enquiry? If you do so, Curator2, I may be able to help with dating these fins and providing further information about them. I have a pair of light blue Cressi Rondines in my collection of historical diving equipment, albeit ones without a triangular patch, and I also have access to Cressi sub catalogues and publicity materials. DRW |
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Post by nikeajax on Sept 5, 2023 8:24:19 GMT -8
DRW, what, except for cosmetics, is the difference between these two?  JB |
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Sept 5, 2023 10:11:32 GMT -8
Your light blue Oceanways Pros are Cressi Rondine clones, JB. I have a pair in my collection. My first full-foot fins, purchased in the late 1960s when I joined a university branch of the British Sub Aqua Club, were also Cressi Rondine clones, black models made in England by the UK diving equipment manufacturer E. T. Skinner (Typhoon).
You are right about the close resemblance between the original Cressi Rondines with the triangular patches and your Oceanways Rondine clones. After all, their colour is the same, they both have the swallow pattern on the foot pockets and the blades and their other structural features are similar.
So cosmetically, they seem identical. The only difference I can discern between them is the length of the blade, which appears to be greater in the case of the Cressi Rondine version in the three images I posted. The latter is a later model, launched when the blades of Cressi's fins were lengthened to generate more power and speed.
DRW
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Post by nikeajax on Sept 5, 2023 11:42:03 GMT -8
YIKES! Those are long, aren't they? I was comparing them to my "Competition"(?) fins, but those blades are exceptionally long!  JB
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Post by DavidRitchieWilson on Sept 5, 2023 12:30:24 GMT -8
Healthways Competition and Genoa Rondine fins appear to have been made exclusively for the American market by Cressi sub. Both models came with instep straps for extra security and were unobtainable in continental Europe, not even in Italy. They were absent from Cressi sub catalogues throughout the 1950s and the early 1960s when they were in production for transatlantic export. DRW |
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Post by SeaRat on Sept 5, 2023 13:59:18 GMT -8
Just a note from my observations. JB, your fins seem about 2-3 inches shorter than the original Cressi that are shown in the first set of photos. This is a critical area, as when the fin blade bends, this is the area which is pointed at 90 degrees to the travel line, and so have the most power in the blade. “…The latter is a later model, launched when the blades of Cressi's fins were lengthened to generate more power and speed.” That is a definite result of the lengening of the blade.  Fin Vector Analysis by John Ratliff, on Flickr This is what I’m talking about, with the fin on the right you can see that a longer blade gives more force pointed in the opposite direction as the direction of travel. Here is a catalog frame the 1980s (New English Divers, I think) which show JB’s fins.  NED catalog002 by John Ratliff, on Flickr John |
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Post by curator2 on Sept 7, 2023 23:24:52 GMT -8
Thank you all so much for your kind responses. I can confirm, DRW, that the fins are very similar to ones you display at top, except that ours have a solid yellow triangle at top w/'cressi sub' written inside-- no black.
I will figure out the image posting soon, many apologies for the delay!
Thank you so much for any advice. They have been worn for many years and are well-loved.
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