LW Para Badge by IMME

[Albert]

Hello every one,

Great forum! Being a long time reader this is my first post. I would like to see images of an original, needless to say, LW Para Badge made by IMME. Can anyone help with pics of the obverse and reverse? I have one myself and would like to compare. Sorry, have no ability to take digital pics...

Thanks in advance,
Al

[Lorenzo Brown]

Hi Albert. Here is a picture of mine. How does it compare with yours?

[Albert]

LW Para Badge by IMME

Hi Lorenzo,

Thank you very much for the images. A beautiful badge! Now I wish I could make and post pics. The wreath of my badge is different in places. Different dies, die wear? The eagles seem to be very close. The hinge construction is identical. Mine also has a C-catch but rather angular. The pin on mine has a nickel silver appearance and is blunt not pointy. Looking at the rivets, the left-top one is higher than the right-bottom one. The former does not have a "circle" around it the latter does. What is deffinitely different is the maker's mark. Written just like yours it deviates in detail. Again, I wish I had pics I could post... I'll try to find a way though.

Kindest regards,
Al

[ERIC S.]

Hi Lorenzo,
Those are awesome pics - very sharp and clear - is that from a digital camera or scanner?
ERIC

[Lorenzo Brown]

Here are scans of Albert's JMME para badge. Textbook JMME hinge and catch as on their Pilot badge. Mark is the same as on RadioGunner badge.
Height 52.4 mm
Width 41.75 mm
Eagle 48.75 mm
Weight 38 gm

[Tim B.]

Good Afternoon,

Well, I'll join in as I have yet to get a Paratrooper badge for my collection and am looking at the different makers to decide which one appeals to me the most.

IMO, the detail of the early IMME & Sohn badges are very nice as are the Juncker, Assmann, Meybauer, and GWl badges. One thing that I have noticed and don't like on the IMME Paratrooper badges, is the inproportionate appearence of the eagle's head to the rest of the body. You can see this on Lorenzo's PICS and it is similar to several others I have saved in my files. It almost appears to have a tiny head. :o

Al's badge appears to have an eagle with a more proportionate size head and body. This is the first one I have seen like this for this maker, and though I find it much more pleasing to look at, question why I haven't seen this style by this maker before? No expert here on paratrooper badges, but I am curious.
Tim

[Albert]

Good morning Tim,

I am convinced now, after comparing the scans of my IMME and Lorenzo's Deumer badge, that the wreaths are identical. IMO these two suppliers procured components from the same subsupliers.

I have read an article which said that some of the "prolific" manufaturers were in fact only assembling badges from components made by sub suppliers. I will try to find this article for more details.

Regards,
Al

[Albert]

Lorenzo,

I totally forgot I had an early IMME Radio operator. Just compared the two. Hinge, hook, pin, rivets, wreath material and finish, and the maker's mark are identical.

Thanks for mentioning it,
Al

[Lorenzo Brown]

Hi Albert...you are right, the wreaths are identical. Well this is an interesting comparison of my Deumer marked para and your JMME. Side by side, the eagle design seems almost identical, but my Deumer is slightly thinner. Here are measurements on my Deumer:

Wreath height=52mm , width= 40.5mm
Eagle length= 48.2mm, height = 24.3 mm
weight = 27.4 gm

It is strange that even though the numbers line up pretty close, the pictures show them to be slightly different proportions (could be different scan angles). I've triple checked my measurements, can you check yours again?

Also note the weight differences. Both my Deumer and JMME para's are thin, approximately 3.3 mm at the wreath. By comparison my Juncker para is about 4.5mm at the wreath. Also the eagles appear to be about 2/3 the same thickness as my Juncker. Can you get thickness measurements for your JMME? Thanks

[Albert]

Lorenzo,

It ranges between slightly under 4mm -caliper between leafs- and over four -caliper on a leaf. So overall it's slightly over 4mm. To compare exactly we would have to agree on the placing of the caliper. But it is obvious that mine is thicker. BTW, my IMME radio operator is also thick; kind of like the para badge.

Al

[Tim B.]

Al,

I guess I should have looked in Detlev's Catalog first and pointed out that he has one on page 516 that looks like your badge.

I do see a difference in the eagles and have sent Lorenzo some PICS of the "skinnier neck" type. Can't find all of them as I'm moving around files and folders to play with my "C" drive, but will send more later as well.

Nice badge AL and I agree with you on the IMME & Sohn badges being more thicker than Junckers. I too have both Radio Operator badges and there is a noticable difference in wreath thickness and (in my case) almost 10 grams of weight difference between the two badges.
Tim

[Mike Pinkus]

Hello

saw this thread buried on page three...figured i would pull it up to the front!
just got this in...comments?Lorenzo?, the rivets do not look the same as yours.
looks like a nickel silver wreath
weighs right at 40 grams
wreath ...42mm wide..53 mm tall
eagle 49mm
mike
<img src=http://members.aol.com:/budmike/ebay/para1.jpg>

<img src=http://members.aol.com:/budmike/ebay/para2.jpg>
<img src=http://members.aol.com:/budmike/ebay/para3.jpg>
<img src=http://members.aol.com:/budmike/ebay/para4.jpg>

[Lorenzo Brown]

Hi Mike. Here is the one that was posted by Albert that looked like it has the standard JMME hinge and mark. All three look different.

[Lorenzo Brown]

Here is the reverse