Otto Schickle made the one-piece Schinkels: A Theory

[streptile]

Yesterday I got an email from a friend asking me how we know that the one-piece Schinkels we call “Schickles” were in fact made by Otto Schickle. I tried to send him the link to my old thread in which I articulated the theory, but I realized the thread had disappeared. Maybe a result of a server change?

In any case, not long ago the EKs we call “Otto Schickle one-piece Schinkels” were in fact unknown makers. They are shown in this great 2007 reference thread in post 5, which summarized the state of our knowledge at the time it was posted.

Anyway, luckily I composed my old thread on my computer's hard drive before I posted it on the forum, so I still have the original text of it, which I’ll repost here. Since then I’ve added a handful of better, newer photos and a bit of information, but this is essentially the same thread I posted on 6 July 2010.

Any comments welcome after I finish posting.

[streptile]

One Piece Schinkels
A Case for Otto Schickle as the Manufacturer.
(originally posted in July 2010)

The question I will try to answer in this thread is, who made this unknown maker Schinkel EK?



.

[streptile]

I believe it was made by Otto Schickle, Pforzheim. I further believe that it was Schickle’s first attempt an a 1939 EK during WWII, and that later in the war it was replaced by their well-known three-piece model:

.

[streptile]

Probably the first step in establishing that the one-piece 1939 Schinkel EKs currently under discussion were made by Otto Schickle is to agree that the 1914 and 1939 one-piece versions were made by the same maker. To be honest, I don't intend to go into a lengthy proof of it here because I think it is so self-evident that any long discussion would be tedious and unnecessary. For the sake of completeness, I will list (if not illustrate) some of the evidence:

• The sizes are identical
• The materials are identical
• The obverse beading characteristics are identical
• The "feel" and workmanship are identical
• The identical reverse hardware on the 1939 versions (I am aware of one pin type and one SB attachment type) may also be found on the 1914 versions (although there are more options to be found on he 1914s).

Here is a shot of a 1939 and a 1914 set in screwback form:

.

[streptile]

One other important introductory note is that I will jump back and forth between discussion of EK1s and EK2s. So, in order for this argument to read properly, we have to stipulate that one single company made the following crosses:

• 1914 one-piece EK2 *
• 1914 one-piece EK1 PB *
• 1914 one-piece EK1 SB *
• 1939 one-piece EK2
• 1939 one-piece EK1 PB
• 1939 one-piece EK1 SB

This is easy to agree with and I don’t think anyone would disagree. No one who has ever held a 1914 and a 1939 version of these EKs would ever dispute that they were made by the same maker, so I will use this as a given, a starting point for this discussion.

So please note: All the one-piece EKs shown below are of the same exact obverse type, either 1939 or 1914 (the type under discussion here), and all the three-piece EKs are typical L/15 types with Schickle's frame and core. This is important because I do not necessarily show the obverses of every EK.

* Note: the maker of the 1914 one-piece EKs used two different date designs. One is “modern” with thin, rounded numerals, and the other is “traditional” with serif dates such as we generally associate with 1914 dates. I will use these two designs interchangeably in this theory, but in fact my opinion is that the “modern” date design preceded the “traditional” design.

[streptile]

Let's look at what we do know about Schickle.

Schickle has an instantly recognizable EK frame:



...and some very distinct-looking hardware:

.

[streptile]

Let's remember the catch shown above, but for now let’s look at the pin.

The pin on this typical Schickle (above), we do not encounter on the one-piece Schinkel. However, we can find it on one-piece Imperial EK1s (that I contend were also made by Otto Schickle):

.

[streptile]

There is also another pin that Schickle used with some three-piece 1939 EK1s. This is a three-piece EK1 by Otto Schickle:


.

[streptile]

...and here it is also found on a one-piece EK1:

.

[streptile]

The pin is the same:


.

[streptile]

So, OK, we know that two pins commonly found on the one-piece EK1s were also used by Schickle for their three-piece EK1s. Not much evidence so far. What about the screwbacks? Here is a three-piece Schickle showing one type of reverse SB attachments they used -- a distinctive 2-piece setup.

.

[streptile]

And here (bottom) is the same hardware found on our one-pieces:


.

[streptile]

So now we know that the hardware found on the one-piece EK1 SB and PBs, was also used by Schickle for their three-piece EK1s.

Here, in another photo we've already seen, is the catch-type that eventually Schickle became known for on their L/15 pieces:



And here is the same catch on one of the one-pieces:


.

[streptile]

Here they are together. the typical Schickle L/15 catch on the right (found, again, on an L/15 marked three-piece) and the same catch on a one-piece:


.

[streptile]

And it's not just EKs. Below please see an Imperial WB by Otto Schickle:


.