Translucent Scales

[jec88]

How do the translucent scales age and how well do they hold up? I picked up a Huntsman lite that has everything I like in a sak, except I really prefer a sak to be red, either alox or cellidor. It's ruby red, so it's close.
And I like the look of a well used pocketworn knife, so I'm not concerned with babying it and it getting scuffed. I'm just not familiar with the translucent scales in terms of durability and how it will look since this is my only one. Can anyone post some pics of some worn translucent scale knives and how long you've carried it.
Are these as durable as the red cellidor? I suspect that it is, but it just doesn't feel that way. It seems more brittle.
Thanks in advance.

 

[Piso Mojado]

My wife's Wenger Swiss Clipper, "Watermelon Translucent Pink" Cellidor scales. What it looked like new, Christmas 2013:

More photos:

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php/1139380-Wenger-Swiss-Clipper?highlight=nail+clip

What it looks like now, after bouncing around her purse on a key chain for seven months:

In my limited experience, all Cellidor wears about the same: the difference is in how noticeable the dings and scratches are. Translucent Cellidor is the most beautiful new and shows scratches the most. Opaque Cellidor's light colors show scratches less than the dark colors. Matte nylon scales show scratches least.

As for general toughness, I don't think Cellidor has ever been military issue: that will tell you something, but how much I cannot say. Military scales have been hard wood, "fiber" (wood laminate?), cast aluminum, nylon, and polycaprolactam AKA Polyamide 6 or Nylon 6 with inserts of thermoplastic urethane AKA TPE-U. The last is quite a mouthful, Victorinox calls them "dual density" scales. Cellidor scales are cheap, attractive, and easy to replace. If you prefer nylon, Swiss Bianco sells 111mm, 91mm and 84mm nylon replacement scales.