I’d come at this a little differently. Philips, back in the day, often did it all, including the mastering as well as the pressing.
I was on a Vertigo Swirl binge a few years ago- a label Philips formed to enter the ’psych/prog/folk’ rock market. Those records were made from roughly 1969-73 and are highly desirable. I have quite a few-approximately 50. What I found was not much different than the general rule regarding mastering and manufacture. If the source country of the recording and mastering was the UK, the UK pressings typically sounded better. In certain cases, Vertigo Swirls originated from Germany- so-called Krautrock- there, the German pressings tend to shine. Going outside of the country of origin of the master tape/mastering was uneven- in some territories, Philips didn’t press locally, but imported from another country; and in a few cases, where I have multiple copies, I found that some, although manufactured locally, e.g. New Zealand/Australia, were comparable to the original UK.
I have a few U.S. copies that are entirely different masterings (and not very good ones) that were done here in the States, but one in particular I actually prefer to the original UK (I have both, but the UK is easily 8X the price of the US copy, mainly due to collectability).
So, the question, to me, is where the recording was made and mastered. That gives you a greater likelihood of getting something made off the original master rather than a safety and a mastering that is closer to what was originally intended.
@bdp24 - some of the deep prog I own on Italian made records is very good quality. Quiet, good playing surfaces. Go figure.
One of my friends at Island back from the beginning always got German pressings of their catalog even though he was based in the UK. They were quieter. (The UKs generally sound better though, subject to the above rule).
Hope that helps.
