fwiw - if I was spending the kind of dough it seems to take to acquire a PR A1..I'd be looking pretty hard at an upgrade if it had "all the right stuff" + the right feel/heft in hand with that 'certain' aesthetic.
That said, I'd just assume start out w/a Parker Reproduction if I intended to have a custom pattern engraved, over a vh worthy of upgrade.
Nice that we have choices