Jayson,
Welcome to the forum. I agree the Elite is a beautiful gun. I believe that there were approximately 50 Elites made. The first ones came with the smooth Hogue G10 grips and the later Elites came with the slightly upgraded checkered Hogue G10 grips, and the Elite Premiums got the last 16 sets of black carbon fiber grips and special serial numbers. Maria told me that the Elites were discontinued because too many slides were being over polished and had to be thrown out during the hand polishing process. The owners of the first and second Elites produced are both forum members, the first one came with a hand written note from one of the brothers and a copy of the magazine it was featured in. As far as price goes in November I purchased one NIB from a collector who bought three when he heard they were being discontinued. I probably paid a little too much at $2,500 but don't regret it and am very happy with it as a EDC. I originally wanted to get my hands on an Elite Premium (and still do) so I put some black CF grips on it and have included a picture below. What are your plans for your Elite?
