Originally Posted by
Kactus
The first clamp-on is post-CPSC (1978 and on) Nuovo Record and the second clamp-on is a pre-CPSC Record. Until 1978 there were only Record FD's. After 1978, SR fronts had the black anodized arm while NR were clear anodized; both had the cage with holes in them (introduced 1979).
Campy Timeline explains some of the differences.
Campy Timeline
That's a big table. I thought SR debuted earlier, but seem to be mistaken. There was an issue with the black arms on the fd's initially because they looked too similar to SunTour Cyclone and Dura Ace, suggesting a "less desirable" front derailleur. I always assume the black arm means SR. With the similar cage, I assumed that the clamp-on was an SR because I was led to believe that there were early silver armed SR fd's. I'm not sure if there were. This is based on some vague recollection of a conversation with someone several years ago, though.