Yours:
Mine:
Original poster’s:
Nickel plated from BST post:
OneDrop released multiple hardcoat colorways based on pictures on the forums.
I purchased my grey hardcoat 5kQV from OneDrop at PNWR 2016/2017, cannot recall which year. After @da5id confirmed it was the hardcoat anodizing, I remembered that’s what they called it back at PNWR. They were $100.
All of these, excluding the nickel, appear to share the same texture/finish, although different colorways.
All nickel plated examples I can find look quite different from ours, see linked nickel sale.
Another defining characteristic is the lack of hardcoat applied to the inner catch zone due to its rough nature, similar to the bead-blasted(?) rough finish of Markmont Classics and the absence of it where string friction occurs.
Original poster’s:
Mine:
Lack of it on nickel plated example: