I have an old fiddle that had old geared pegs when I bought it. I don't know what the difference is between the old ones and the Knillings - other than that the Knillings look like ordinary everyday pegs, while the old ones have little metal doo-hickey thingamajigs (perhaps they are widgets?) sticking out. And the Knillings are smoother and easier to use - but that may simply be because they ARE newer.