Istanbul Cymbals - History

History

The Istanbul brand name was adopted by a cymbal works established by two cymbalsmiths, Mehmet Tamdeger and Agop Tomurcuk. These cymbals were first exported to the U.S. in 1984, first under the name "Zildjiler", and soon afterwards as "Istanbul". Both craftsmen signed each cymbal. Some of these cymbals are now collectors' items. Following Agop's death in 1997, the company split, with Mehmet forming his own company and making cymbals sold as Istanbul Mehmet, and Agop's sons Sarkis and Arman forming their own company and making cymbals sold as Istanbul Agop.

Mehmet claims to have learned his art from Mikhail Zilcan (sometimes spelled Zildjian), the grandson of Kerope Zilcan after whom the Zildjian K series is named. In the 1950s, he worked in the K. Zildjian factory in Istanbul. Agop was the plant foreman at Zildjian K factory.

Some of the current ranges of Istanbul Agop and Istanbul Mehmet overlap. Both have lines called Traditional, Turk and Sultan, and within these lines many models are in common. Both also have models and whole series of cymbals not duplicated in the other's catalog. Agop makes a line of cymbals under name Alchemy Cymbals and creates a number of signature series, including the Mel Lewis series, Agop series and SE Jazz series. Istanbul Agop relocated to a newer and larger facility in 2007 where it combines its manufacturing of hand made professional and machine made student cymbal lines at one location.