SRD Mark and Swaty

Hey guys. Maybe I am overlooking the obvious, but what does the SRD Mark I see often on hones (Droescher I assume) have to do with Swaty Hones?

Also, a possibly related question, I have several Franz Swaty hones, some with 2 lines of text, and some with 3. Yet I just saw an Ebay sale that has an SRD Swaty that has text that says 'Swaty three line Razor Hone' on the stone. What is the story?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...MEWA:IT&ih=012

Simple - Swaty made hones for SRD=SRD was getting hones from Swaty and attaching its brand to them.

3-line swatys had a very good reputation even back in the day, so SRD decided to make sure the new stones had 3 lines of text. I've heard that the US-made swatys ("pike" swatys) are nearly as fine as the old 3-lines.

I've never been impressed by my own 3-line swaty, my DD combination hone seems to produce a noticeably finer edge, and my "The King" barber hone seems to produce an edge about as fine as my 15k shapton (or it did before it broke). Maybe I've just got a dud swaty though.

yah, the father & son Swaty story...

I like my Swaty much better than the Lithide. Not sure how it compares to Belgian and Escher but lately I use these before oxide and the Swaty is resting.

Cheers
Ivo