Osang Bomber Clasp Review

[Dave Wyatt]

Hey guys, this spange was returned to us by one of our customers who stated that it was recently clear coated. I asked the buyer to return the badge and decided to issue a full refund regardless of the actual situation which the badge. After receiving the badge back in the mail, I looked it over again very carefully. To me, this is a 100% textbook Osang clasp with original factory lacquer over the bronze finish. I want to be certain of this before I repost the badge. Thank you for the feedback.

[Sebastien T]

Textbook clasp Dave. Mint bronze zinc clasp from Osang have this lacquer look and totally genuine. Here's some other examples to compare. Georgous bomber Dave.

Seb

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Dave,

I have studied this exact clasp in hand previously, and it is possible there is a clear coat on it. Here is one of the pics I took when it was in my hands, you can see something shiny at the base of the hinge right under the pin. So its possible that it was coated with something, but for me that is no problem because it has helped preserve this gorgous, and rare Osang Bomber clasp.

Osang bombers came in 2 patterns, the first pattern is in brass and the 2nd pattern is in zink. Your example is a rare transitional piece which uses a 1st pattern die but it is made from zink. It is the only Osang bomber I know in existence that is a transitional example. Unfortunately that makes it hard to say that the finish is 100% textbook when its the only 1 we know of. I can say for sure that the typical 1st pattern Osang clasps in brass, as well as the typical 2nd pattern clasps in zink don't have a clear coat on them as far as I can tell. So I would tend to think that your example indeed has a clear coat. Who applied it and when I don't know, but for me it matters not because the clasp is so well preserved and a rare variant, that is all that matters. Many collectors apply vaseline to their clasps and also renwax, etc. which gives a similar shiny appearance. Not an issue at all, for me atleast especially on a zink badge where the finish is prone to evaporating if the conditions aren't right.

Tom

[kefru177]

The badge initially confused me when i first saw it, it has all the features of a tombak badge from the front and zinc badge hardware on the back. The fact that this is a transnational badge using tombac dies makes sense in this context. The finish is fantastic, rarely to zinc bages look tombak from the front 70 odd years later.

It does look like it has had a coating of something but as Tom says on a badge of this quality that does not matter.

There is a very similar zinc badge here https://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/for...e-bomber-clasp from 2007. (Edit its the same badge but I cant see if its got a coating on it)

How much were you selling it for ? (Edit $775 with a case)

[Gardereiter]

I'm confused right now after reading some of the posts above. So are you experts saying that it's okay to clear-coat a clasp or badge to preserve its finish? Saying that a permanent finish not original to the piece "doesn't matter" is very surprising (if not alarming.) I just hope that beginning collectors reading this don't all rush out to the hardware store to buy a can of Jiffy-Coat to make their clasps look bright and spiffy.

[Jelle M.]

I must say that the clasp posted is in mint condition, the blueing on the bomb and the finish on wreath has preserved very well.
Not obvious for zinc clasps.
If there is laquer on a badge, i expect it to be on an unworn example because only these can still have the factory laquer intact.
Keeping that in mind i don't exclude that the laquer on Dave's clasp was already there when it left the factory.
Another option that Tom mentioned, a vaseline treatment, is also very plausible.
As it's a trantitional piece, it might be possible that Osang experimented a bit with new production techniques.
In the end tombak and zinc is totally different from eachother so it would be not unusual to see differences with the later
second die zinc clasps.
It's difficult to discuss a delicate topic as this when you only have pictures to stare at.
Fact is that it's a beautiful cased clasp that remained in top condition.

Jelle

[kefru177]

I'm confused right now after reading some of the posts above. So are you experts saying that it's okay to clear-coat a clasp or badge to preserve its finish? Saying that a permanent finish not original to the piece "doesn't matter" is very surprising (if not alarming.) I just hope that beginning collectors reading this don't all rush out to the hardware store to buy a can of Jiffy-Coat to make their clasps look bright and spiffy.

Yes and no, it depends if its obvious and what you do is reversible. With zinc badges a light treatment of vaseline is harmless however if you use something more permanent that's an issue.