USN Pilot Wings - What era?

[John F.]

Hello:

Does anyone have an idea of what time period these US Navy Pilot Wings are? The wings measure in just under 2.75”, they are snowflaked; marked sterling; and are very thin. The pin opens 180 degrees. I'm guessing pre-WWII. Any help would be much appreciate.

Thanks,
John

[John F.]

The backside

[John F.]

Close-up front

[John F.]

Close-up Back

[John F.]

Catch & Hinge

[John F.]

Thickness

[kastauffer]

John

They look cast to me and appear to have been made fairly recently. The style of wing they were cast from would be WWII or later.
Kurt

[Gary Cain]

I agree with Kurt. Fairly poor copy of a pre 1939 wing. What is the material it is made of? If it is lead(which it looks like to me then it could have been made yesterday! If it is truly silver then it could have been cast way back during WWII but there is no way to tell.


Gary

John

They look cast to me and appear to have been made fairly recently. The style of wing they were cast from would be WWII or later.
Kurt

[Mr.Jerry D]

I think if it is old & sterling, then it was made as a "sweetheart" piece rather than a military insignia. The detailing is just too poor.

[Gary B]

Dear John F,

The snowflake pattern was used on AMCRAFT wings prior to WWII, but I would have to agree with the others that these wings appear to be cast. Additionally, meny wings of pre WWII manufacture (from the 30s) had a straight drop in catch.

These wings might be a jewelers cast copy for a sweetheart piece. I would have to see the details in person. I recently had a set of silver Navy wings of similar construction which I sold as a sweetheart piece.

Gary B

[John F.]

Gentlemen:

Thank you for your time and effort on this matter .

Best,
John

[greg.hays]

Hi all, just a question. Is it possible that these could have been theatre made somewhere? I know I've read about pilots in the pacific casting wings in cases where supply was short. Just wondering if there are tell tale signs of a theatre made piece.

[John F.]

... Is it possible that these could have been theatre made somewhere? I know I've read about pilots in the pacific casting wings in cases where supply was short...

Greg,

Interesting possibility. I'm curious to hear some responses .

[Allan H.]

The thing that had me wondering on these wings was the good quality pin and the nice catch as well. They are truly the marks of having been finished by a professional. If this wing were a sand-cast example as some might suppose, I would expect it to have a much more crudely made catch and pin- simple loop catch and a wire pin for example.
These make me think they are sweetheart as others have suggested.
Just my two cents,
Allan

Greg,

Interesting possibility. I'm curious to hear some responses .

[pfrost]

The thing that had me wondering on these wings was the good quality pin and the nice catch as well. They are truly the marks of having been finished by a professional. If this wing were a sand-cast example as some might suppose, I would expect it to have a much more crudely made catch and pin- simple loop catch and a wire pin for example.
These make me think they are sweetheart as others have suggested.
Just my two cents,
Allan

The thing is, that the pin and catch were most likely bought already made from a supply company. All it takes is a solder gun, a pair of pliers and not having an extra cup of coffee to put the hinge and catch on straight.

As for being a sweetheart wing, can you guys imagine buying this and giving it to your wife or mother or girlfriend? Especially in light of the high quality sweetheart jewelry that was being made at the time?

Also, as for being theater-made (usually attributed to the CBI), I seriously doubt that. When you look at the high quality items made by artisans in that area for sale, frankly the quality is much higher.

This wing pattern is a common USN pattern that is sometimes sold as being Coast Guard, English made, pre-war, etc. The real ones are usually gilt or painted gold (see below).

Finally, I have seen this type of wing periodically. Almost always on the gun show curcuit and almost always in cases of dealers with shady or questionable honest.

It would be my honest and humble opinion that this is a cast wing made during the past two decades that is designed to fool novice collectors. In short, a fake.