The AOII badge has remained the same since its inception. The "closed" versus "crown-set" pearls were actually just an option. Prior to 1965, badges were individually made, and a wide range of options was available. At that time, it was decided to limit the number of options to the most popular. Closed-set pearls were not in this group. As far as I know, adding goldclad (plated versus 10K) badges was the last major change.
There is an excellent article in our magazine,
To Dragma , that speaks to these very issues and it is available free on-line on our International HQ web page.
PS-ariesrising, your Greek pages rock!
Silver