Which should I use?

[Shvegel]

So I pulled out my original hood emblem today as well as one of the last metal ones I bought 15 years ago.  Part of me wants the new one and part says put the worn original as an homage to where my car has been.

[Jonny B]

My inclination is to stay with the original one, priceless to still have it and be in reasonably good shape.

[RobSirg]

I tend to be a purist and love the romance of original but if it was to be fitted to a fully restored car, I would go with new and just keep the old one with the car documents or something. If the car is not freshly restored and has patina elsewhere, I would retain the original with its lovely patina.

[Pawel66]

if everything is bright, nice and new, you may not like the old one there.... You may hold the old one as memorabilia for the car.

[Vander]

I would match the condition of the rest of your car. If your car has a new paint job and has been restored use the new emblem.

If your car is a driver with some miles on it,, use the original emblem.

[johnk]

My two cents is that your car is too perfect to put the old one back on. The old one would make a nice memento to display on a shelf and would probably be noticed more that way.

[wwheeler]

If you ever want to restore your original, this place does a fantastic job. http://www.maxwellenamels.com/Home_Page.html

They did the grille emblem on my W128 220SE. I ended up putting on a new one for now until the rest of the car is finished. The new ones look similar to the originals, but just not the same. 

[mbzse]

Some info about the hood emblem in previous discussion:
https://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=28012.msg201703#msg201703

[Aaron h]

Some fun trivia here.   A lot of people refer to the enamel work on these badges as Cloisonne`, which is incorrect.  It's actually called Champleve`. ....but Maxwell's website describes all of that. 

[wwheeler]

That is all above my head, but they really know what they are doing. Old world craftsmanship at Maxwell and is impressive.