Aeon Cue

[magicman]

I bought an aeon cue around 1990 from the Coventry warehouse, and after using it for 18 years and having the ferrule replaced 3 or 4 times needed a little length added to it. Hunt and Osborne added a few inches for me a couple of years ago, and though they did a good job frankly it doesn't feel the same. I'm fairly sure that aeon won awards for being the best hand made cues in Britain, and what a shame this wasn't enough to save them.

[CueAntW147]

Dennis Garrison who was the owner of Aeon Cues, still has the patent for the spiro lock joint I believe & runs an engineering firm in Stratford but doesn't make cues anymore, but still makes the joints.

They used to make some cues for Hunt & O'Bryne and also had the contract for the top end riley cues during the 1980's Burwats, Riley Professionals etc, so if you have one of these it was probably made by Aeon.

There individually numbered cue with triangle shaped brass badge is the most sought after, then they did a pro range with round gold badge all the ones i've seen of these have been nice.
And a wide range of machine spliced with oblong style black badge with Aeon Cues written in gold.
Spiro lock joint was used on the top end cues, 2 & 1/2 long thredded joint on the others, all joints nicely made though.

[poolqjunkie]

Thank you for the info, very interesting.
When they did the cues for Hunt, was it well known? Did the customers know?

[CueAntW147]

Thank you for the info, very interesting.
When they did the cues for Hunt, was it well known? Did the customers know?

Not sure if it was well known at the time, but don't think it was a secret either both companies happy for the link between them known. I think Aeon catered for the lower end H & O's so there wasn't a problem with it.

I think customers would have been happy regardless as they would have got a nice cue usually.

Aeon were always well known in the Midlands area of UK when still in production but got more well known to a wider audience after they closed.

Other factor is the internet effect in spreading & gaining knowledge not to mention marketing products etc......back in the day it was a Self Addressed Envelope to the makers for info even in the 1980's,business conducted in a different way to what we see now.

[davethecueman]

I,ve owned a aeon cue for over 20 years paid over £200.00 then complete with mini and long extension, this has the brass aeon badge and twin ring spiro joint, the shaft is smooth with a couple of perfect aligned arrows, I,ve heard that people have had this spiro joint removed for something else for some reason, never had a problem with mine, no clunking or hollow sounds or anything. Over the last 5 years I have used other cues including parris, northwest etc but I always revert back to my aeon cue, maybe it's what i'm used to. As for information about these cue is very limited I tried to find out a little bit when I had this cue 20 years ago but not much information about then either. All I can add is a well made cue, excellent shaft and no problem with the spiro joint. I'm now waiting for my trevor white cue to be made !!!!!!!!

[deant1982]

Dennis Garrison who was the owner of Aeon Cues, still has the patent for the spiro lock joint I believe & runs an engineering firm in Stratford but doesn't make cues anymore, but still makes the joints.

They used to make some cues for Hunt & O'Bryne and also had the contract for the top end riley cues during the 1980's Burwats, Riley Professionals etc, so if you have one of these it was probably made by Aeon.

There individually numbered cue with triangle shaped brass badge is the most sought after, then they did a pro range with round gold badge all the ones i've seen of these have been nice.
And a wide range of machine spliced with oblong style black badge with Aeon Cues written in gold.
Spiro lock joint was used on the top end cues, 2 & 1/2 long thredded joint on the others, all joints nicely made though.

I don't know about the H&O part, but it was definately Dennis Garrison that made them. They were a pretty small manufacturing company on the A45, and made some brilliant cues.
I brought mine for £150 second hand about 10 years ago, from someone who was a great player, but got bored of snooker and gave the game up. It plays fantastic, looks great (apart from the chalk around the end where the tip is).
As mentioned, many players in the Midlands swear by them, and I have never heard anyone have a bad word to say of an Aeon cue. I would certainly not have a bad word to say about any I have seen.

[headsup]

Aeon cue

Hi folks,
I've just taken a quick punt on eBay and bought an Aeon cue (partly because of the good remarks on this site, I have to say).
I'm waiting for delivery and wondered if anyone can tell me anything about the cue from the photo?
It was advertised as an old gift from John Virgo, but I emailed JV and he has never heard of a) the seller or b) the brand.
Not surprised about a) but was surprised about b).
Any informed comments will be more than welcomed.
Headsuphttp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=180683927725

[poolqjunkie]

Thanks for all the info.
I was just wondering with such solid reputation and quality, does anyone know if they clsoe down simply because they wanted to move on to better things, or did they have problom with keeping the shop open.
I understand abck in the days without internet it is harder to become well known. Even if you are very good, without the proper marketing and exposure you could be having problem with sales.
They seem to be very good at machining brass badges, brass splices and joint butt caps and so on. Probably had some very nice machinery in the shop and was very good with machinary operations I think.
Also like the fact that their cues are different from others.

[deant1982]

From what I understand, despite their reputation for producing excellent quality cues, they went into adminstration. Back then, as you mention, there wasn't a lot of internet to promote the business.
Dennis Garrison (who actually used to play snooker with my old man) was from all accounts a brilliant engineer and woodworker. The downfall to Aeon was being great at these two areas does not make you full of business acumen, and they just couldn't sell sufficient numbers to stay maintain the business.
From my own experience, people in Coventry do not (on the whole) chop and change cues regulary, so the once the main boom was over and most of the midlands top players that would spend a couple of hundred pounds on a good quality cue had done so, it quickly became a problem that their market had dried up, and they did not have the means or know how to go bigger.
Having talked to people about Aeon, I understand that it was originally set up to be a small, side line operation, making just enough money to stay in business, however word went round quickly of the quality, and the boom happened, making it become a full time operation.
(this is word of mouth from several different sources, so although unconfirmed, I believe it is credible) I don't think it was helped when somebody that was taught to make cues by Dennis immediately left to do it on his own as soon as he knew how to. The person in question was of retirement age, so simply "retired", then started offering to do repairs, adjustments, or even make a cue for someone "as a hobby", and knowing the prices Aeon charged, was able to undercut them.
I don't imagine Dennis was too upset in the end though, as rumour has it he owns or runs an engineering company nowadays, and only intended making cues as a sideline. Plus, from what I'm told, he still has a full size snooker table in his house.....
Like I say, I'm not certain on any of this, I am simply relaying what snippets of information I have picked up over time.
Dean

[CueAntW147]

From what I understand, despite their reputation for producing excellent quality cues, they went into adminstration. Back then, as you mention, there wasn't a lot of internet to promote the business.
Dennis Garrison (who actually used to play snooker with my old man) was from all accounts a brilliant engineer and woodworker. The downfall to Aeon was being great at these two areas does not make you full of business acumen, and they just couldn't sell sufficient numbers to stay maintain the business.
From my own experience, people in Coventry do not (on the whole) chop and change cues regulary, so the once the main boom was over and most of the midlands top players that would spend a couple of hundred pounds on a good quality cue had done so, it quickly became a problem that their market had dried up, and they did not have the means or know how to go bigger.
Having talked to people about Aeon, I understand that it was originally set up to be a small, side line operation, making just enough money to stay in business, however word went round quickly of the quality, and the boom happened, making it become a full time operation.
(this is word of mouth from several different sources, so although unconfirmed, I believe it is credible) I don't think it was helped when somebody that was taught to make cues by Dennis immediately left to do it on his own as soon as he knew how to. The person in question was of retirement age, so simply "retired", then started offering to do repairs, adjustments, or even make a cue for someone "as a hobby", and knowing the prices Aeon charged, was able to undercut them.
I don't imagine Dennis was too upset in the end though, as rumour has it he owns or runs an engineering company nowadays, and only intended making cues as a sideline. Plus, from what I'm told, he still has a full size snooker table in his house.....
Like I say, I'm not certain on any of this, I am simply relaying what snippets of information I have picked up over time.
Dean

Good info mate, and pretty accurate i think.

Dennis was from an engineering background originally hence the reason the badges, joints etc were always well machined and accurate, he was always great to deal with as well, more like a mate helping you out than a business really.

Didn't his son in law work with him as well at some point to then form Sam Leisure when Aeon closed ? Sam Leisure do mainly Pool Tables, and games room type things more than cues but are still based in Coventry despite a few problems in recent years i think.

[poolqjunkie]

Great info, thanks so much, really appreciate it.
What about their contract with H&O, did they close down around the time when H&O closed shop?
I like the differences I see in their cues. Back in the days I would imagine it must be very innovative. It is too bad they could not get the marketing going. May be if they had some big name players using their cues back then it would have helped.
With the growing demand of H&O, I wonder if those cues they were asked to build for H&O could have been enough to substain their business--if H&O was in business longer?

[sharkster63]

Aeon Cuie

Hi,
Could anyone please tell me a bit about Aeon cue?
When and where were they made?
Why did they close?
How is the hit?
How is the workmanship?
Thank you.

Good Day, PoolJunkie,
I have inserted a few pictures of my Aeon Cue, I have 5 more next post. You can judge the workmanship yourself. I dont like the joint, it is not very smooth. Cheers

[CueAntW147]

Looks like the sandpapers been out on the shaft looking at the pics, with some grain filling, a drop of oil it would be a different cue with a nice refinish, you might be happy with it just as it is though or not as the case maybe.

Thing is with any joint where you've got metal & wood there can always be a chance of movement ( shrinkage/expansion) as wood can shrink over time if it loses moisture leaving the joint exposed a little and slightly overhanging the wood which can get worse over time.

Have you had this cue from new ? as joint may have been flush with the wood when it was made, or did you mean the joint itself ie the metal doesn't feel smooth as this is to do with the machining of the joint.

A pic of the joint thread would also be good to see which type it is, it could even have been replaced at some point.

I like the butt splice design though, not sure about yours but some of the shaft splices on the Aeons were a bit random and not always level & even, though this was not such a concern back in the day, it was all about playability, how does the cue play ?

[sharkster63]

Good Day, Cue Ant,

Yes you are right, I took out the sandpaper, when I play with a cue it must slide well, I use a very fine paper. This cue is a very good hitting cue, I like to play with it. I got it for a very good price on Kijiji an online classified web page. The last owner ordered it from england in the 80's and was the original owner, he informed me that he payed about 400.00 cdn back then. I also like the design, the splices on the butt are amazing, very well done, impressed me because there is next to nil varnish or wax, and they are like perfect. I think I will try to give this a wax job just on the ebony and splices. Here are some more pics of the joint. I find this cue hits simmilar to an old craftsman I have, very solid hit, little to nil throw, need to hit harder on long shots to get backspin. Here are a few more pics.
Cheers, Rolly C. send

[CueAntW147]

Its a nice cue mate, hang on to that it will only increase in value, yours is a higher end model with the original spirolock joint and gold badge, looks a nice shaft as well to be fair.

I know players especially in the midlands where they were made who have used there Aeons for over 20 years and wouldn't use anything else so they've stood the test of time well.

Love the butt design & colours used on yours, the ebony splices on the shaft look pretty level as well.

Thanks for showing the pics !