WE 396 or BTMC 2652 look-alike

[countryman]

I came across a couple of these recently. This one looks painted. The dial is mounted in a different way than on the BTMC while the case looks similar. It even looks like a more modern dial of inferior quality, and with American lettering.
Were these phones "refurbished" for the antique market? They don't look like a reproduction altogether, but not correct either.
Ebay link: https://www.ebay.de/itm/124034636432

[rdelius]

Many of these European sets were painted for the antique trade in the 1960s. That dial has a sticker with the numbers on it.I have seen these with French flag decals on them and were not even French telephones .I think the dial is a modified Ericsson type.

[FABphones]

I have seen similar which were reproductions made in Japan. I couldn't say for sure what that one is without a closer look at those labels, so if you are interested in it ask for a clear photo of the labels on the base, including the wording underneath the rolled up edges. At the very least I would say it was originally aimed at the designer market.

[rdelius]

Not a reproduction but the gong under the cradle and the dial were added,might have new guts added also besides the new paint.

[countryman]

Thanks for your opinions. I'm not interested, just curious 
A funny thing is that it seems to have a brass "tan" over silvery/grizzly metal. So it's not "brassed out" but "nickeled out" maybe...

I came across this auction as I looked for spares for my swedish Televerket (Ericsson?) intermediate set which has been messed up quite a little. I now purchased this red fragment for parts and hope I will be able to use the ringer and terminals. It's the first phone I bought for parts. It also has been painted and decorated with brass coloured trim and a fake gong/cradle like the white painted one. I hope the red phone lovers don't mind me parting it out.

[HarrySmith]

All correct opinions so far. I had a customer a few years back that collected only those phones. The real ones in White. He had quite a few. Some with minor differences and by different manufacturers. He had me fix a couple to work and also swap some parts around. Very nice, well made phones. Some of them were Very, Very Nice, enamel paint, real gold plating & silk cords!

[rdelius]

You might be seeing very worn gold plating over nickle over brass.