RK case paranoia?
Let me preface this by saying that I'm not indulging in dealer-bashing here. Or singling out any dealers for scrutiny. Which is why no dealers' names are mentioned.
I was talking with a collector friend here in Paris the other day. We were comparing Ritterkreuz cases. His case was sourced in Germany. So was mine. Mine came from a wellknown dealer through an intermediary. Bought through the same intermediary as mine, his case may have come from the same dealer. It’s the one in the pictures.
The extent of wear and tear aside, our two cases are identical. They’re the classic ‘square corner’ type with magnetic press studs. A few days ago, my friend had called a German dealer about a 1957 pattern RK. This ’57 RK was contained in a very new-looking 1939 pattern case. Black velour lining, etc. The dealer’s assistant had answered the phone and, at the request of my friend, checked to see if the press stud was magnetic, which it was. A seed of doubt was sowed in my friend’s mind. There are, after all, highly convincing fakes of RK cases and RK Oakleaves cases in circulation. They are not complicated items to make. His doubts increased when he called the dealer back. He asked the differences between 1939 and 1957 pattern RK cases and was told that they were as different as day and night. However, the case containing the 1957 RK was, to all intents and purposes, identical in construction and colour scheme etc to our 1939 pattern cases, although it looked brand-new.
My friend then asked about the magnetic press stud on the case containing the 1957 RK and was told by the dealer that it was definitely non-magnetic, which is strange as the dealer’s assistant had just tested the press stud with a magnet and pronounced it magnetic.
Now…this all seems a bit odd. I have looked at the images of the case containing the 1957 RK and it sure looks like an as-new example of the 1939 pattern RK cases owned by my friend and myself. Thinking about it, I have to say that all empty RK cases I have seen on the market, particularly offered by German dealers, are identical to mine. I have never seen an empty ‘round corner’ case for sale. These only seem to crop up with RKs inside them. And another thing that occurred to us: with so many uncased RKs on the market, WHY would a dealer sell an empty RK case in the first place? Or, more to the point, why would a dealer sell such cases through ‘civilian’ middlemen, as it were?
Did the dealer offering the 1957 RK slip up in showing it in an un-aged fake case of the same type sold – suitably aged – to collectors through the proverbial back door? Or did his assistant simply get it wrong? Or are these guys sliding fake RK cases onto the market through ‘runners’ in order to protect their spotless Honest John reputations, one of the oldest dealers' ploys in the book?
Or perhaps we're just paranoid…
Comments?
Prosper Keating
[ 06 November 2001: Message edited by: Prosper Keating]
[ 07 November 2001: Message edited by: Prosper Keating ]
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