schickle RK

[George Stimson]

That's what I thought. Congratulations on scoring a rare RK!

[RoyA]

Primo Schickle Tom

I'd love to have one of these.

I'm sure the value will creep closer to the other manufacturers before long.

R

[tom hansen]

Thanks guys. I had never seen a L/15 piece before, so I thought I would snag it. It is kind of like a 3/4 ring. Many consider them to be less than desireable than a juncker, S&L or K&Q, but I find them appealing to compare the difference in beading quality, and just for the rarity of the piece. It will be interesting to add this piece to the SEM list for pieces to test this fall!

[Dave Kane]

Roy, Brittany just now told me that she would just love a Cross like that...........

[tom hansen]

Any thoughts on the very light weight and the lack of finishing of the lower interior edge of the frame? I think the low swaz is interesting as well.

[RoyA]

Roy, Brittany just now told me that she would just love a Cross like that...........

Dave, she can have my '800' Juncker for just one date

What a gorgeous gal!

[tom hansen]

Here is flawing on the right side of the 6 oclock arm

[tom hansen]

12 oclock arm left side

[Bob Hritz]

Congratulations, Tom, on a nice find.

As a side note, back in the mid 1980's I got an unmarked ( I can't remember but think it was 800 silver marked) Schickle cross, along with a load of common (then!) stuff. I really was underwhelmed with the quality( read: low swastika and light weight) and remember the swastika was a bit low, but it was sharp, good and straight edges, and crisp looking. Not caring about the cross for my collection, I decided to sell it. I carried it for several years before George Peterson brought someone to my table and told him to "buy the bargain original Knight's Cross". It sold for a fraction of the, then, going price of the "industry standard" Knight's Crosses.

The point is, I probably will not find another and I hope you will get as much pleasure as you can from a very rare maker marked Knight's Cross.

I always thought my 'cosmic punishment' for my being so shallow is never to find that 3/4 ring Knight's Cross.

Bob Hritz

[tom hansen]

Thanks Bob-


I found also the shallow swaz and weight interesting, as it seems the other makers do not share these characteristics. The quality of the piece is high, but as the photos show, the flawing on the beading is about on par with the late and post war S&L pieces, perhaps a little more. There are flaws in the gaps between the beading at several points. These are not readily visible to the naked eye, as in the S&L, but readily apparent with a loop. I can see why this manufacturer, as well as that of the 3/4 ring, were not given official contracts.

[Harry]

Is it possible that companies such as Schickle, Forster & Barth etc, who were not officially licenced to produce RK award pieces produced them anyway as sales samples or display pieces? Perhaps they made the die and produced some pieces to be submitted to the PK for approval for official production, only to be declined a licence due to lack of quality?

[Rich G]

Tom


Lovely RK . I have always been a fan of the Schickle and would love one for my collection.

BTW, in Gordon W's book pg332 mentions that the Schickle RK shown was awarded. Doesn't mean a whole lot in terms of official manufacturer or not, though.
Rich

[Biro]

A nice rare marked Schickel Tom! Congratulations...

I trawled my Bowen and found the piece Schneider-Kostalski had as a privately purchased back-up piece to his gnarly awarded (unknown) cross was a Schickel.
(It is not the piece he is wearing in the award day photo.... but when he needed a nice bright shiney award for his 'leave activities' he chose to wear his Schickel.

Interesting to note that Bowen comments specifically on the 'well raised swastika'... and overall quality.

Very nice.

Marshall

[tom hansen]

Thanks for the information guys! I would assume that this maker made RKs for private purchase or display and perhaps, as Gordon mentions in his book, some were turned over to the PK and were awarded after the banning of commercial sales. Gordon suggests in his book that these were made 1940-1941.

I tend to agree with Harry in that the quality of the shickle and the 3/4 ring is a cut below the other makers and probably influenced their lack of approval by the government as an official maker of the award. I would presume that those marked "L/15", as this one, was made between late 1940 with the initiation of the use of "L" designation, and May 1941 with the banning of the private sale of RKs. This piece appears to have wear around the ring and it is slightly bent, which appears to be a feature associated with worn pieces. The ribbon is a worn ribbon, but of course those can be mixed and matched.

It is interesting that the two makers that appear to have slightly lower quality features were not awarded official contracts. These lower quality features are not apparent at all with the naked eye and only become an issue under 30X mag with a loop. Perhaps the standards of the PK, in contrast to the suggestions that a "macro" appearance of quality was sufficient, were such that detailed examination of these pieces, as would be expected of a jeweller, came into play when these manufacturers were approved for official production.

This piece has an iron core. I can see the slightly lower weight with a neusilber frame, which it appears to be, but perhaps the lower weight is due to a "thinner" core and overall piece? The iron core is presumably heavier than the zinc/brass cored pieces. This piece is certainly on the skimpy side for weight. The thickness, beading to beading, is about 4.7 mm, while the flange to flange thickness is about 1.25mm. My other RKs are in a safety deposit box- does anyone have some spot measurements of these dimensions for another maker of RKs? Thanks

[Dietrich Maerz]

I think it's a fake!!

It has the Schickle date, the typical nicely done beading from Schickle, the flat ring and even has the marking that one would exspect from a Schickle. Exactly how a Schickle should look.

Don't kid yourself. This information was out there for years already! The fakers know that!

Dietrich