Swedish-made Torvald Stranne Floats

I've been asked: Are these floats authentic fishing floats, or are they contemporary floats? Not knowing for certain, I will give the reader what I do know, and hope to recieve additional information and insight from anyone who might help with additional knowledge.

My first knowledge of floats with the marking, Torvald Stranne, came from two friends-one who lives in Sweden, and one who lives in Germany, and both within days of one another. It happened in November of 2006. Both friends offered me the opportunity to purchase a green Torvald Stranne, and both were differently-sized. One was netted, and one without.

Well, anyone who knows me, knows that I had to try to get both of them. I did!

Both floats are the same nice clean green color of glass, and even though the smaller of the pair has an authentic and used fishing net on it, the glass is in pristine shape.

Shortly after those first two additions to the collection, Torvald Strannes began to appear every-so-often on Ebay auctions, in green and in different colors as well: cobalt, red and purple. In the last two years, I know of between 10 to 20 Torvald Strannes having been offered for sale. Of those floats, only two have been netted, mine and one other. The glass varies in thickness and weight too. Some floats are less than the normal weight of an authentic fishing float. Most are "regulation" weight, and all have pristine glass. I have yet to see one that was in a nice and used state.

My present guess is that they are contemporary floats, but that a few have been netted and used. This is the case with all of the contemporary floats from different countries. Because of the quality and thickness of the glass used in their construction, every so often, one will be found that was netted and used for gill nets, octopus jigs, lobsterpot or net markers. I have in the collection, and have seen examples of used-for-fishing contemporary Hokuyo, Made in Czechoslovakia, Torvald Stranne and without marker's mark-American floats.