Xena's Chakram

Xena's New/Second Chakram — grooves comparison
If you're just interested in the original, full sized photos, click each of the photos down the left side of this page.

Get into the Grooves

Some of the photos on this page were mirrored (3.a, 3.b) and/or rotated to make comparisons easier. I mostly don't know which photos come from earlier or later episodes, so I can't say if this is an evolution over time, or just the variations of the assorted chakram props used on the show, or even if any two photos might actually be the two sides of one chakram.

1. "S" grooves ebb and flow in width and depth (some fading out), and shows marked "S veer."
(I think I got this photo from Logomanc's site, years ago when the chakram first appeared.)

On the right side of the photo, the outer grooves fade completely into the ridges surrounding the inner groove, which deepens and widens. Heading toward the left side of the photo, all three grooves organically fade away. Also, the ends of the grooves veer toward the sides of the metal "S" rather than stay more centered.

2. Center groove deeper in center, otherwise constant groove sizes completely across.
of Todd's Costumes sent me this photo.)

There is no fading out of any groove: all three go from one end of the "S" all the way to the other. At the "S" ends, the three grooves all have about the same size (especially on the left). The center groove looks like it gets deeper and wider in the center of the "S." Also, the "S veer" doesn't seem as pronounced as for example #1.

3. Groove depths and widths constant all across, mild "S veer," center groove deepest.

a. This is from a cover for a fan fiction: One Flew Uber the Chakram's Nest. I assume the chakram form was not adjusted for the image.

On this chakram, all three grooves keep a uniform width all across the "S." The center groove is much deeper and wider than the outer grooves.
Also, is it just the lighting making the center metal look more golden than in the other photos?

b. Sorry for the "ick" factor, here. (Worse still, someone ["Yue"] told me it's Gabrielle's blood!) Also I don't have the page I got this from, but I do know I found it via google's image search feature.

This chakram seems a lot like the previous one: uniform groove depths across the "S," the center groove is deeper and wider than the outer grooves. It also has mild "S veer."

c. sent this photo.

This one looks like it might be a hybrid of this example (#3) and the next example (#4). The center groove is deeper but not as much as in example #4. Also it does not have the marked "S veer" seen in example #4.

4. Constant groove sizes all across, shows marked "S veer," extremely deep center groove,
(This is another one found via google.)

Here we see a return of some of the elegant yet daring aspects of the first example while retaining some of the uniformity of the other two. Specifically, it has uniform groove widths and depths across the entire "S," the center groove is remarkably deeper and wider than the outer grooves, and the ends of the "S" grooves veer out toward the edges.
Also, is it just the lighting making the center metal look more like copper than the others?

I like #1 the best. It is the wildest, it looks like an ancient artifact, and yet it is also beautiful: very like Xena, the chakram master.

Todd says the chakram "is actually yellow brass on one half, pink copper on the other half, along with a lot of true green accents."

He also claims there is one person who would know about any different versions of the new chakram and that he is acquainted with him. That guy claims "There was only one original model made, and all the molds taken from the master model ... they would all be identical to the original model with no distortions" (Todd's words). So why all the evident differences above? Todd believes they are from assorted photo distortions ("annoying shadows... digitally brightened ... angle, lens length, and lighting can distort perspective, scale, and size").
I am rather skeptical of this view. There are some pretty noticeable differences in the photos. Only #3 arguably had aesthetic changes made to it, since it was artistic (I can also believe that #1 was brightened). There was no reason for anyone to use clever tricks with the other photos. I don't think it's so easy to explain away the differences in the size of the center groove, the variations across the width of the chakram in #1, and the different degrees of "S veer." I think the photos are pretty convincing. I'd need to see things like a cross section of the chakram showing how tilt distorted what the camera saw, and an analysis of what the camera saw to say how tilted the different photos are (how un-circular the camera thinks the chakram is), and in what direction, that sort of thing. After all, his acquaintance could simply be exaggerating his role in the prop department or be mistaken about his carving's role. At any rate, I just find the differences too compelling to quickly wave away.
I consider it a mystery, and a minor mystery at that. I frankly am no longer intrigued by the matter and leave any such further investigations to others.

1. "S" grooves ebb and flow in width and depth (some fading out), and shows marked "S veer." (I think I got this photo from Logomanc's site, years ago when the chakram first appeared.)
On the right side of the photo, the outer grooves fade completely into the ridges surrounding the inner groove, which deepens and widens. Heading toward the left side of the photo, all three grooves organically fade away. Also, the ends of the grooves veer toward the sides of the metal "S" rather than stay more centered.
2. Center groove deeper in center, otherwise constant groove sizes completely across. of Todd's Costumes sent me this photo.)
There is no fading out of any groove: all three go from one end of the "S" all the way to the other. At the "S" ends, the three grooves all have about the same size (especially on the left). The center groove looks like it gets deeper and wider in the center of the "S." Also, the "S veer" doesn't seem as pronounced as for example #1.
3. Groove depths and widths constant all across, mild "S veer," center groove deepest.
a. This is from a cover for a fan fiction: One Flew Uber the Chakram's Nest. I assume the chakram form was not adjusted for the image.
On this chakram, all three grooves keep a uniform width all across the "S." The center groove is much deeper and wider than the outer grooves. Also, is it just the lighting making the center metal look more golden than in the other photos?
b. Sorry for the "ick" factor, here. (Worse still, someone ["Yue"] told me it's Gabrielle's blood!) Also I don't have the page I got this from, but I do know I found it via google's image search feature.
This chakram seems a lot like the previous one: uniform groove depths across the "S," the center groove is deeper and wider than the outer grooves. It also has mild "S veer."
c. sent this photo.
This one looks like it might be a hybrid of this example (#3) and the next example (#4). The center groove is deeper but not as much as in example #4. Also it does not have the marked "S veer" seen in example #4.
4. Constant groove sizes all across, shows marked "S veer," extremely deep center groove, (This is another one found via google.)
Here we see a return of some of the elegant yet daring aspects of the first example while retaining some of the uniformity of the other two. Specifically, it has uniform groove widths and depths across the entire "S," the center groove is remarkably deeper and wider than the outer grooves, and the ends of the "S" grooves veer out toward the edges. Also, is it just the lighting making the center metal look more like copper than the others?