bushveld,
As far as the pins being ivory embellishments, all things are possible. In my opinion, without evidence, if the stock maker intended them as only embellishments, they would have been considerably more ornate. I have not seen the internals of the locks. Why would anyone compare "standards of quality" without comparing price at the same time? Regarding the borders, the engraving is not the same along the entire border(s). It appears that sometime in its century of existence, someone other than the original engraver made repairs to the border, possibly by welding up pitted areas and recutting the border. Considering its current location, it is entirely possible this was done by an English engraver.
Mike
