Indeed, in a time that now feels far away, even the humble harpoons of spearguns could be ranked along a kind of social scale. When the masses of underwater hunters, or so-called ones, dove with tanks on their backs and the inevitable little speargun or oversized cannon in hand, there were ugly, not-so-sturdy harpoons, probably cheap, alongside a multitude of standard models fit for all purposes. Then there were the special ones, designed for specific spearguns and particular preys, which were technically refined, as much as such an object could be. They might have two very long or offset barbs, or a joint and a single barb, or even four short barbs arranged in a star shape. There were also those intended for very specific uses, like the small and grim "bone breakers." All of them interesting enough to be arranged in a small collection, though what would truly stand out would be one of the rare, branded specimens.
I discovered the first one mounted on the shaft of a faded red first-series Mordem Razzomare; when I scraped off the layers of rust accumulated over the years, the word Mordem emerged, crudely engraved. Another one was pointed out to me by an acquaintance from Rome, whilst more recently I suggested to my friend Franco Martini from Genoa that he scrape the harpoon of a very old Razzomare he had just recovered, and once again, the name Mordem appeared. This engraving, too, was rough, clearly done by hand, and of an entirely different kind than the refined markings that adorned the harpoons created by Raimondo Bucher for his spring-powered super spearguns with rack suppressors, first introduced in 1951. In the earliest models, the harpoon was crafted directly from the shaft, a solution that guaranteed maximum efficiency and strength, but soon proved to be rather impractical.
Bucher then switched to standard shafts and designed his own distinctive harpoon, to be screwed onto the tip. Branded with his name, it soon appeared in shop windows, packaged in an elegant cardboard box. To the delight of collectors, a few of these have survived: two were recently tracked down by Max Perugia. There may be others out there, bearing the names of Demetrio Morabito (Mordem), Raimondo Bucher, or perhaps others, all equally rare. The hunt for branded harpoons is on.
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