And I disagree with your assessment, I am very positive that the one with the aluminium fittings is the older one!
The one with the aluminium fittings I would place around the middle of the 20th century (1940 - 1960), the other one I would place around 20 years later.
And yes, I guess that the pommel from the later one is from horn but it's lacquered, so I would remove the paint with 000 steel wool and polish it again.
Regards,
Detlef