Flight Clasps with Pendants - Questions

[Tim O.]

Hi all

I have been looking at the flight clasps I have in my collection which have pendants attached. I always assumed that when a man was awarded a pendant he got a jeweller to attach it to his existing gold clasp with solder. I have however noticed that, at least in my collection, all the clasps with pendants exhibit the same flaw and attachment for the central motif so I now think the clasps with pendants attached were issued ready-made and that the majority of bomber clasps with pendants were made by the same company. Another clasp with star pendant I sold recently had the same signature features. In my experience these features are absent from clasps without pendants.

Has anyone else noted this?

Here is a bomber clasp with star pendant with the flaw (arrowed) and note the attachment of central motif.

[Tim O.]

Here is a clasp with 200 pendant - same features. I am not sure the attachment looks that special now so let's focus on the flaw!

[Nick Carraway]

Obverse

[Nick Carraway]

Reverse

[Tim O.]

Hi Nick

Lovely clasp - you seem to have a high quality collection of really nice examples. Can you see any evidence of a flaw in the position I highlighted?

[Nick Carraway]

Thanks Tim, just following your example! I don't see it but perhaps it is just starting to form. Under magnification it seems there just might be something starting but it is hard to tell if I am seeing what I want to see versus what is there.

[Thomas Durante]

Hi Tim,

I think this flaw was something that developed later in the war, and therefore happens to coincide with the same time that pendants were being added to the clasps more and more due to the large number of aircrews racking up flights. As Nick shows, there are clasps with pendants without the dieflaw. And likewise, there are clasps with the die flaw that don't have pendants.

The type of clasp you show is the most common type of Bomber clasp that is encountered, so they must have made thousands and thousands of these over several years. As the die flaw progressed later into the war, so did the number of flights that were racked up, so it makes sense that many of these flawed clasps will be found with pendants, but it is not a rule as Nick shows. Here are a few others...

First one up, nice pendant clasp with no sign of the flaw....so probably a very early production.

Tom

[Thomas Durante]

Here is one with the flaw, but no pendant.

Tom

[Nick Carraway]

Great info Tom! You should write a book

[Tim O.]

As usual, Mr Durante has things worked out. Thanks for the clarification Tom. I'll certainly be buying that book when it is available - any prediction on publication date?

Thanks also Nick for your help.