Diamonds for 125.000 Euro (175.000 US $) in Germany!!

[frankandfrank]

Today i was looking in the www.huesken.com and i saw the knights cross with oakleaves, swords and diamonds for the price for 125.000 Euro.
A 950 Platin.

From which person was this?
regards
ralf

[Santi]

I believe that found that thing, but the whole medal thing is bullsh** !
The only Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds was awarded to Hans-Ulrich Rudel
That cant be the real one, and the price? for god sake that is too low for such an item!!

Here there is a repro of the original:

[Santi]

Sorry, for posting again, but i found the original RK!

Here you go:

[Dietrich Maerz]

Hes NOT selling a GOLDEN set of the Diamonds but rather the (regular) set. I saw 3 today at the SOS...

Dietrich

[Dave Kane]

Did the 'sets' look anything like what is being offered Dietrich..?

Or better yet could the set featured resembled those contracted in '53 for about 3kDM?!!

[Darrell]

Hes NOT selling a GOLDEN set of the Diamonds but rather the (regular) set. I saw 3 today at the SOS...

Dietrich

D.

You gonna keep one and sell the other 2 you bought?

[Kevin V.]

I have been told by a very experienced collector that there have been made 6 sets of Golden Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds!!!! Three with real diamonds and three with copy diamonds!!!! Five of them are known who has them and one is missing !!!!

Sincerely
Kevin verbeeck

[WBallok]

The three RK Diamonds at the SOS have been displayed for years by Wolfe-Hardin and belonged to Hermann Graf, Gordon Gollob and Adolf Galland. Steve Wolfe said that he bought the Galland Diamonds from the Galland family directly. If the Hüsken ones are $175,000, then how much are the Galland Diamonds? They must be super-expensive! It is strange that none of the rich celebrities on Wolfe-Hardin's client list bought these wonderful Galland Diamonds.

Bill

[Dave Kane]

An interesting read!

Thought provoking


Only twenty-seven Ritterkreuzträger received the
Brillanten, making it a very rare award. The last set
of allegedly genuine Brillanten sold reportedly
realised around $100,000.00 US early in 2004. This was
a silver B Stück set and changed hands between two
well known collectors.

An A Stück in 950 platinum is currently for sale
through André Hüsken for €125.000, which equates to
$175,000 at today's exchange rate. There are other
examples for sale, including three sets said to have
been awarded to Adolf Galland, Hermann Graf and Gordon
Gollob. These three examples can be seen in
Wolfe-Hardin's showcase at any major show in the USA.
It is interesting that there have been no takers
amongst the multi-millionaire collectors Wolfe-Hardin
count amongst their clientele. One would have thought
that the Galland Brillanten would have been snapped up
quickly by any of the collectors with sufficient
disposable income.

In 1990, the Deutsches Ordensmuseum published a list
of the known fate of genuine examples of the
Brillianten. ‘A’ refers to the platinum sets and ‘B’
to the silver versions. Not every Brilliantenträger
received two sets. Ramcke, for instance, received just
one set. The set attributed to Marseille which is on
display at the Luftwaffe Museum in Utersen is a copy
and there is some question as to whether Marseille
actually received the Brillanten before his death.
Other RKT, like Adolf Galland, received more than two
sets.


QUOTE
Vorhanden in Familienbesitz,
beim Träger oder beim Käufer 15A, 10B

nicht augehändigt 3A, 6B

in den Kriegswirren verloren
gegangen 3A, 0B

von den Siegern erbeutet, gestohlen 1A, 1B

beim Absturz zerstört 1A, 2B

umgearbeitet in eine Brosche 1A, 0B

umgearbeitet in eine Brosche
und gestohlen 1A, 0B

mit den Trägern beigesetzt 0A, 3B

in Gefangenschaft abgenommen 0A, 5B

unklar 2A, 0B

Total, 27A 27B


According to the DO, just two sets were unaccounted
for in 1990, both of these being A Stück platinum
Brillanten. Klein of Hanau produced most of the
wartime Brillianten and also made reproductions after
the war. Some early sets were apparently made by Godet
and the first three recipients, Werner Mölders, Adolf
Galland and Gordon Gollob, are said to have received
these "1st Type" Godet Brillanten at their
investitures. The set attributed to Gollob in
Wolfe-Hardin's showcase certainly appear to be Godet
Brillianten. The set attributed to Graf looks like a
Klein piece but the Brillanten set said to have come
from the Galland family looks unlike either of the
other two.


Brillantenträger Adolf Galland

Anyone who has read Galland’s memoir The First and The
Last knows the story of Göring and Galland, that
Göring had a set made for Galland after examining the
set given to the fighter ace by Hitler and that
Hitler, on learning of this, then presented Galland
with an even better set. In his memoir, Galland wrote:


QUOTE
How I got the diamonds is another story. Hitler had
given me one set with the usual ceremony. Some time
later, when I was sitting opposite Göring in his
special train at his H.Q. in the Ukraine, Göring
looked at me quizzically and said, "tell me, are those
diamonds the Fuhrer gave you? Let me have a look at
them.'

I put down my knife and fork and started to take off
the Knights Cross...

... Göring took my diamonds in his hand and
scrutinised them. 'No,' he said with a grimace of
disapproval. 'These aren't diamonds at all. They're
just stones, ordinary stones. The Fuhrer has been
swindled over this. He knows a a lot about guns,
battleships and tanks but hasn't a clue about
diamonds. Look here, Galland, I'll get some for you.
Then you will see what diamonds really are. I still
have a few left'.

He took the diamonds and I fastened on my Knights
Cross with a paper clip.

Later I went to Karinhall to see Göring. The diamonds
had been built by his court jeweller and Göring was as
pleased as a child.

'Look here,' said Göring, holding a decoration in each
hand so that the diamonds sparkled. 'These are the
Fuhrer's diamonds and these are the Reichmarschall's.
Do you see the difference? Now, which one of us knows
about diamonds?' I had to admit that he was right. The
Reichmarschall's had a beauty of their own, they were
larger and had a wonderful brilliance. Compared with
them, the Fuhrer's stones looked very inferior. He
gave me both decorations back and I now had two sets.

Well, later it seems that Hitler found out about this
and stated that the original pair he had awarded were
only 'temporary'. He then ordered another pair made
which was presented to Galland as a third set after he
criticised the second (Göring's pair) as 'just
ordinary stones'...

...Towards the end of the war my command post near
Berlin was completely destroyed by bombs, and among
other things I lost set No. 3. When Hitler heard of
this he had a new set made. This was my fourth".



Revue magazine 23.5.1953 - courtesy of Dave Kane

So Galland received four sets during the war: the
issue set criticised by Göring, the set he received
from the Reichsmarschall and the two sets he received
from the Führer, one of which was destroyed, as
Galland recounts. Yet in 1953, as the above extract
from an article in the May 23 1953 Munich edition of
Revue magazine shows, his brother commissioned a new
set of Brillanten for Adolf Galland, who was working
as an advisor to General Perón in Argentina, helping
to modernise the dictator’s airforce.

The set taken from Galland by Göring at the dinner
table was probably a Godet piece. Galland’s anecdote
is sometimes cited as bearing out the story that
Hermann Göring had Brillianten production switched
from Godet to Klein because he felt that Godet's
product was not good enough for his boys, the first
five recipients being Luftwaffe pilots. However, if
Göring commissioned Klein, then where did Hitler
source the sets he later presented to Galland?

Some people have suggested that Göring commissioned
Tiffany’s Paris branch to produce the replacement set
he gave Galland. Given Göring’s nature, it is entirely
possible and he was certainly a Tiffany's customer
before America's entry into the war. However, by the
time Galland received the Brillanten from Hitler on
28.1.1942, the United States was at war with Germany
and Tiffany’s was an American company. Galland states
that "Later I went to Karinhall to see Goring. The
diamonds had been built by his court jeweller and
Goring was as pleased as a child". Of course, Hermann
Göring used more than one jeweller.

The Galland family have indicated recently that they
have two sets of Brillanten that belonged to the late
general. Yet back in 1953, Galland had a set produced
at considerable expense and sent to him. So one of the
sets in the possession of the Galland family is likely
to be the set made in 1953. The other set could either
be the fourth set to which Galland refers in The First
and the Last, which was the second set given to him by
Hitler, or the very first issue set, which was given
back to him by Göring when the latter also gave him
the superior quality set he had obtained. Were the
Brillanten given to Galland by Hitler made by Klein?
The logical conclusion, given Hitler’s personal
interest in decorations and the rigour with which the
LDO enforced the rules governing Ritterkreuz
production, is that these two sets from Hitler were
indeed Klein pieces.

However, the 1953 magazine article poses an awkward
question. If the Galland family had had two sets of
Brillanten back in 1953 – or three sets, if you
believe that they sold a set to a well known American
dealer a few years ago – then why did they go to the
trouble and considerable expense – DM 3.200.00 - of
having a set made for Adolf Galland to wear at
functions in Argentina? Why not simply send him one of
the two or three sets they had?

The conclusion is that neither Adolf Galland nor his
family had any sets of Brillanten in 1953, unless they
had the set that Galland was wearing when he went into
captivity at the end of the war. If so, why did they
not simply have that set sent out to Buenos Aires in
the Argentine diplomatic bag or via one of Perón's
couriers, given that General Galland was working for
the Argentine government? Sentimental reasons? They
wished to retain the wartime set? I think it unlikely
because for Germans, the document is the award. The
medal is merely an outward sign of possession of the
document.

Two more likely scenarios are either that, as in
Rudel’s case, for instance, someone stole Galland’s
Brillanten at some point during his time as a POW or
that he sold them for scrap value during one of his
periods of penury after being demobilised. Had he
still had at least one of the superior sets from
Göring or Hitler in 1953, why would he have asked his
brother to commission the best possible Brillanten
money could buy when considerably less than DM 3.200
would have gotten him a perfectly acceptable wearing
copy to show off in front of the Argentines?

Given that Klein continued to produce Brillanten after
the war for collectors and, presumably, for
Brillantenträger, it seems likely that the Brillanten
in the possession of the Galland family today or, to
be more precise, since 1953 are all postwar
reproductions. Klein’s reproductions differed slightly
from the wartime sets but Klein, like Godet and some
other firms, are alleged to have made perfect replicas
of the wartime pattern Brillanten to order.

It is worth noting that while the 1957 Ordensgesetz
instituting the denazified versions of Third Reich
awards mentioned the Brillanten, none of the firms
which produced 1957 pattern awards appears to have
listed the Brillanten in their catalogues, doubtless
for commercially-related reasons. Some 1957 pattern
Oakleaves & Swords exist with crudely inset paste
stones but one cannot really imagine a
Brillantenträger wearing such cheap-looking versions
when he could commission a set from the original
maker. Even if he could not afford diamonds, he could
still buy a decent-looking, well-made replica from
Klein. It is rumoured that a Californian jeweller was
commissioned by a well known dealer to make copies of
the Klein Brillanten but altered to resemble the
wartime pieces as closely as possible.



Klein's replica Brillanten were sold through various
sources, including the Historical Military Art &
Collectibles enterprise, operating out of California
in the 1960s. One could buy a set in silver with real
diamonds for $3,675.00, which was quite a hefty sum in
those days. A budget set in silver with fake stones
retailed at $795.00. A few years ago, Forman sold a
set of replica Klein Brillanten described as having
been commissioned by Vern Bowen for £1,000.00
Sterling.

For some years, the West Coast dealer Steve Wolfe has
displayed a set of what are described as Galland’s
Brillanten in his showcase alongside two other sets.
The Galland set are said to have been purchased from
the family. If this is the case, then it would not be
first time someone has bought high end decorations
from a German family that turned out to be postwar
copies or fakes. Many RKT families possess replicas.
More than a few have sold the original documents, for
example, after commissioning perfect replicas for
form’s sake. Some have probably sold the replicas as
originals! One RKT is known to have sold his cross at
least four times to gullible buyers!

This is by no means intended as a slur on the honesty
of the Galland family or Steve Wolfe. However, the
likelihood is that Mr Wolfe’s “Galland Brillanten”
came into existence sometime after the end of WW2.
Steve Wolfe reportedly told people that they came from
the Galland family while the Galland family has
declined to comment, other than to indicate that Adolf
Galland’s Brillanten remain in the family and that
there are two sets.

In conclusion, we can be fairly sure that the early
Brillanten were supplied to the Präsidialkanzlei by
Godet, which makes sense, and that Klein subsequently
received official approval to produce the award after
it was decided that Godet’s product was, for whatever
reason, not good enough. Consequently, any set of
Brillanten that does not conform to known, original
examples of the Godet (Type 1) or Klein (Type 2)
Brillanten must therefore, by definition, be fake.
However, the question of that reference by Galland to
Göring's "court jeweller" remains unanswered. Was this
"court jeweller" Klein of Hanau?

To make matters worse, Klein are alleged to have made
some perfect replicas of their wartime Brillanten,
alongside their bona fide reproductions for
collectors, incorporating slight differences to the
wartime pieces. We are therefore faced with a similar
situation to that pertaining to Godet Oakleaves and
Oakleaves & Swords. Unless there is unshakeable
provenance, who can tell the difference between a
1940s piece and one made twenty years later in exactly
the same way? It is, of course, a rhetorical question.
The situation is further muddied by the mistaken
description on Page 423 of Gordon Williamson's The
Iron Cross of 1939 (Bender 2002) of one of these
replica Klein pieces as a wartime set. The set in
question belonged to the late Bill Stump, who always
claimed to have pointed out to Williamson that the set
was a reproduction.

Whatever the case, the evidence suggests that, by
1953, Adolf Galland no longer had any of the four sets
of Brillanten to which he referred in his memoir. So
where did the various sets of "Galland Brillanten" in
the possession of Adolf Galland's family and Messrs
Wolfe-Hardin come from?


__________________________________________________

[Dave Kane]

1

[Dave Kane]

2

[Dave Kane]

3

[Santi]

Ohhh yeah, I thought it was the one with the Golden Oak Leaves, sorry (i didnt read well)

"Only 27 men were ever awarded the Diamonds grade of the Knight's Cross (10 ace pilots, 2 submarine captains, 1 colonel, 14 generals and field marshals"

More info there =)

Dave, : Thnks for posting those gorgeous things!

[Santi]

This photo is a repro of the original RK With Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds



Hope its usefull !

[WBallok]

To make matters worse, Klein are alleged to have made
some perfect replicas of their wartime Brillanten,
alongside their bona fide reproductions for
collectors, incorporating slight differences to the
wartime pieces. We are therefore faced with a similar
situation to that pertaining to Godet Oakleaves and
Oakleaves & Swords. Unless there is unshakeable
provenance, who can tell the difference between a
1940s piece and one made twenty years later in exactly
the same way?

The answer is that there is no visual difference if the firms in question intended to make some big money by putting perfect reproductions of their wartime EL, ELS and ELSmB onto the market. This is a very good article, Dave. You should ask the webmaster here to publish it.

Bill