General assault badge opinion

[Mark S.]

same badge? Appears so to me..

[Mark S.]

dont cut yourself on those edges...

[Mark S.]

natural steel pin, and not a hint of oxidation in 60+ years..

...except for the bright orange spot which looks pretty fresh to me..

[Mark S.]

no oxdation on the brass hook either...

I dont know what to make of the solder...it looks like JB Weld to me, but that is only my opinion.

(JB Weld, for those not aware, is a two part epoxy type material specifically made for metal repairs)

I am sure there will be differing opinions on this badge, and thats fine. Once I found myself trying to justify this badge, I said to heck with it and sent it back.

[Philippe DB]

Hi Mark,


I can assure you that these are absolutely original GAB's. They come both with a high quality shiny looking finish and with a dull grey looking finish. Probably Frank won't agree with me on the dull examples because he thinks these badge just lost their finish but it is my believe, after handling a few of them, that they never received anything else than this dull grey finish.

KR
Philippe

[Philippe DB]

reverse

[Philippe DB]

Obverse 2

[Philippe DB]

reverse 2

[Mark S.]

Curious...the last one looks like it used to have finish but it all went away. Why do you think it is supposed to be gray when the hardware still has finish left? It appears the solder is also retaining some finish around the catch.

[Philippe DB]

Hi Mark,

Exactly Frank's toughts and I'm very well aware of this effect : "all finish gone except on the good quality hinge and catch". However based upon the ones I handled it was obvious to me that these badge still had somekind of intact dull finish on them. What you see isn't the base metall. Also the finish on the hardware is matt white finish a type of finish I have never seen on Art Deco GAB's, its either the shiny finish or this dull grey look.


Also notice that the ones with a shiny finish had their hardware applied after the badge itself was finished. Why all of a sudden they would have changed the production method? On the other hand I admit that it is very strange to see matt white hardware applied to dull grey finished badges but based upon what I held in my hands I'm convinced these badges never received a matt white finish.

If somebody can show me a matt white finished Art-Deco GAB I'll chance my mind.

KR
Philippe

[Mark S.]

how did the finish get on the hardware if not applied all at once?

I am inclined to think that the dull gray is actually some kind of a base coat, which obviously didnt work too well, considering there isnt any finish left.

[Lorenzo Brown]

how did the finish get on the hardware if not applied all at once?

I am inclined to think that the dull gray is actually some kind of a base coat, which obviously didnt work too well, considering there isnt any finish left.

I would have to agree. Several makers used a "base coat" before applying the final finish. Foerster & Barth, Brehmer and "AS", to name a few. Sometimes, after 60 years, the final finish did not adhere to anything but the hinge, catch and solder. It makes sense, and it's not unusual. I would guess that this badge (pics. #22 & #23) originally had a bright white silver finish as indicated by the hinge and catch assemblies and the soldering.