Blacksmith made netting needle

I have a netting needle (top) that I have been using for years for fine mesh net making. I bought it many years ago at a New England maritime museum. It is useful but it always looked too machine made to me.
At the Goschenhoppen Folk Festival (where I display my Pa Dutch fishing nets) this past weekend I found a blacksmith who said he could copy the needle. He rummaged in his junk box and found a coil of wire that he straightened on his anvil and cut it to length with a chisel.
I wish I could have watched him do his work but I had to get back to my "fish nets" display.
Less than an hour later He showed up at my stand with his creation (bottom). It was better looking than I had hoped. It has none of the stamped out looks of the original. I gave him a large onion/potato storage bag i had made. We were both pleased with the exchange.

http://i.imgur.com/8CjqxnH.jpg?1