I asked Don MacKenzie of Sharpe's of Aberdeen
http://www.sharpes.net/(the company has been re-formed after an number of different ownerships), and I quote:-
"You're wrong you know! - Sharpe's actually made the original J S Sharpe and Gordon reels themselves - these looked like a copy of some old Hardy Reels, with a nickel silver circular line guide - they were not reversible. During this period and later, they actually made some reels for Bogdan. They later made more versions of the Gordons, without the line guide and reversible. The Python and Serpent, along with the Farlows "Ambassador" were copies of the then existing Sharpe's "Aquarex" series of reels, made in the Seaforth Road factory. This ceased in the late 70's, early 80's. The next reels to be made were the Menteith/Don type with spindle drag system. The Spool and Cage were machined in ********* - the rest by Sharpes, and assembled in Aberdeen - the anodising was again done in *********. The Penn 1 through 4 were identical to the Sharpe's reels, but in hard gold anodised finish."