I am thinking of replacing my rather faded 2001 wood with a nice new set in walnut burl. It looks like nearly all cars have the chrome rings for all the instruments. My current wood has them. Was this standard or has it been added aftermarket?

 

No rings on my 97

 

It was an option for a number of years and became standard in the last few. My 2003 does not have rings.

 

I think if I was to redo my wood I would just remove the varnish and just oil the wood and have it with a mat finish. A lot of modern cars don't varnish the wood so much and it looks pretty nice.

 

In 2001 Jaguar had an issue with the clear coat where it eventually turned milky in appearance - Mine is that way as well. You can have the wood refinished but it is pricey or you can do it yourself or you can buy a full set on eBay and replace it all. I personally will probably wait a while and try to refinish the pieces myself. As for the chrome rings, you should be able to reuse the ones you have on your new set

 

Many cities and towns have various woodworking clubs that consist of retired guys who spent decades in the woodworking industry. These clubs usually get together periodically at their home shops and have every woodworking tool known to man along with copious knowledge of how to use them. I contacted a local club back in the early 1990s to ask if they could refurbish some relatively fragile veneered dash pieces for a car I had back then. They did a phenomenal job and refused to take my money as payment so I brought them an assortment of nice hardwood planks from a local lumber yard which they gladly accepted. They also designed and created a beautiful custom jewelry box as an anniversary present for my wife out of a mahogany plank that had been stashed in our attic for years. She still loves that jewelry box today....

Google "woodworking clubs" along with your city, see what turns up, and make some phone calls....