Day Fighter in Gold mit Star Pendant

[Patrick W]

Tom

Here is a pic of the rivit on the recon clasp, very distinctive I think

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for the pic of the Recon. The reverse hardware, the rivet and the non-machined center are all good matches to the unmarked Bomber clasp you and I have shown previously. You may remember this thread, where I speculated that these may have been made by Assmann:

http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...assmann+bomber

Nice to see your Recon conforming to these type of Bomber clasps, and I like your recon clasp very much from what I can see. Almost looks like its made from zinc, can you check that? Probably just the look of the finish....

Tom

[Leroy]

Good to see the rivet, which does seem to form a link to Assmann. I still wonder about the hardware in reversed position, the degree of detail and the base material. I am reminded a little bit of S&L's clasps. Tom, could you compare an S&L and see what you think?

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Leroy,

Will do it tonight when I home from work in a few hours.

I agree that these have a similar appearance to S&L clasps. I don't have my files in front of me, but just off the top of my head there are some differences from these "Assmann's" and the S&L clasps:

1. S&Ls are always in Zinc (whereas the Assmann clasps have only been found in Tombak).

2. S&L hinge is always the barrel-type with wide base. These Assmann clasps have a very narrow BLOCK hinge, similar to the very early "Egg-Shaped Wreath" Assmann Observer and Para badges.

3. S&L leaf cutous are always triangular, whereas these Assmann's are always round holes.

Will post a nice S&L clasp in a few hours for comparison.

Tom

[Leroy]

Thanks, Tom! It's always good to know what the neighbors (200 meters apart)
were doing. Will be interested, too, to see what the base material is on this Recon.

[Sly]

http://www.emedals.ca/catalog.asp?item=GRL797#bigPic

[Ludwig]

"very good condition"??? Almost all "gold" gone...

[Thomas Durante]

Hi guys,

Looks like Sly posted a link to an S&L clasp already, but here is another one for comparison purposes (from Christopher G's excellent collection).

Tom

[Leroy]

What about this one, Tom, posted earlier (with disagreements between you and Marc) on this forum?

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Leroy,

That one looks like a "textbook" S&L clasp. Whether it is wartime manufactured or postwar manufactured is still to be determined IMO.

The hardware and construction of these 2 S&L clasps has more in common with post-war S&L production rather than wartime S&L production in my opinion. In particular:

1. That type of block hinge was used predominantly on S&L's 1957 badges. Whereas the late wartime badges produced by S&L used a barrel hinge or a cheap, sheetmetal hinge (like the one on emedals right now).

2. The flatwire catch is soldered directly to the reverse of the clasp. This is consistent with S&L's post-war production. S&L's wartime badges consistently utilized a round or oval baseplate under their catches (like we see on the emedals site).

Keep in mind, this is not definative and I am not saying these are post war badges...simply because I do not know either way. These are just observations I have made in the past. Here is a 1957 S&L Recon clasp for comparsion (from George's excellent collection).

Tom

[Leroy]

Interesting!

[Thomas Durante]

Here is a compare of the S&L Recon clasp with Patrick's "Assmann" clasp. Quite close in design, but definate differences to show they came out of two different dies. Like many Ludenscheid makers, similar designs were shared amongst neighboring companies....another small piece of evidence to support the contention that Patrick's type of clasp was quite possibly produced by Assmann.

Tom

[Leroy]

Any thought, Tom, on why the hardware on the Assmann is mounted in reverse from that normally seen?

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Leroy,

I think that might just be a production mistake. Here is another "Assmann" Recon clasp I found with the correct configuration of reverse hardware.

Also took a look at my two Assmann Bomber clasps, as well as the 10 or so others I have on file and they all have the correct hardware configuration. There is no prescedent that I can find other than Patrick's clasp, so I think it is probably a production mistake.

Tom

[Marc Garlasco]

Tom,
I love the link to Assmann. That last one's hardware just screams Assmann.
Marc