Destroyer badge...opinions.

[Dave-B]

Thanks to everyone for all of the help and info!....this is another that will be returned!


Cheers

Dave

[mrg]

Hi all, has anyone checked out weitz web site , a very close match and the one that i have seen on a few occasions.

[Lorenzo Brown]

Here are pictures. Very interesting. Appears like the same badge , but with better detailing and more authentic-looking reverse colring and texture. Looks better...but being on a Dealer site doesn't necessarily mean its authentic.


Front

[Lorenzo Brown]

Reverse

[Tim B.]

Well, I hate to bring this back to the top again after so long but I wanted to wait before responding to see if anymore replies or thoughts would be added.

I'm not so sure this style is bad and I'll include some old PICS of one I had before selling it a couple of years ago. At that time I believed the piece to be good and several others here (including the buyer) liked it. I hope the current owner doesn't mind me posting these old photos.

On the front, you can see it has pretty decent details in the way of sharpness, but I agree it doesn't have the level of detailing some earlier tombak badges would show.

[Tim B.]

As you can see, the badge is almost identical to Frank's badge (PIC) with the exception of the beard under the eagle's head. If everybody remembers, the bearded pieces were thought to be a common fake of the ShuCo variety back then and the beard was a definite giveaway.

Here's the reverse shot and you can see it also has that golden color on the entire back. I don't remember if the "bubbling" was typical of zinc pieces or if the finish seemed rough as someone stated earlier like putting sand in the paint. Unfortunately, without having it in-hand and looping it, I can't recall offhand.

Don't mind the glue residue from the price tag that once sat there. Should have removed it prior to taking PICS.

[Tim B.]

Here's a close-up of the hinge area. Notice the edges have grooving similar to what you would expect of a die stamped (forged) piece.

[Tim B.]

...and finally, the catch.

Again, the catch base plate is nicely done IMO and not something I would expect on a fake. The weld seems solid all the way around. Also, notice on this one that the catch is correctly soldered and not reversed like the others.
Tim

[Tim B.]

One more note; I recall some of these destroyer badges were attributed to either Walter & Henlein (Gablonz) or possibly W. Hoebacher (Wien). I think some of them were marked "W H" on the reverse, but the catches were different.

With different variations and parts changing overtime like we see on so many other items, who knows. We might also consider that IF the badge came from an original die--say Hoebacher (Wien), then is it possible that those dies were used after the war to continue making this badge? It wouldn't be the first time we've seen postwar fakes coming out of Austria.

Only speculating here, but keep in mind that even the bearded fakes like the one Frank showed, don't seem very prolific anymore and maybe-just maybe- they weren't fake afterall.

enjoy
Tim