Eickhorn luftwaffe dagger

[Mike Swan]

I have a chance to buy this dagger but am a bit concerned that the gold finish on the swastika may have been touched up.

I'd greatly appreciate opinions. Indoor photos aren't the best but are reasonably accurate.

Mike

[WW2-Collector]

Mike I think your concerns are valid it’s hard to tell though certainly odd that the gilt on the 9:00 swaz leg is sloppily off the leg?

[JohnZ]

It does look a little off... but, remember that Eickhorn is one of the few Luft2 makers that shows many examples of partial or full gilting remaining vs the vast majority of other makers where the gilting has worn off over the years.

John

[lakesidetrader]

Look under the pommel and see if the gilt under there matches the swas.
A secret the "tune up" experts sometimes forget.

[Mike Swan]

Thanks for the replies.

Paul, I don't follow what you mean. Do I unscrew the pommel and should see gold inside? I thought that gold was just applied to the surface of the swas?? Was the complete pommel gilded?

Regards, Mike.

[Mike Swan]

Paul,

I was able to unscrew the pommel and found the interior covered in a deep gold lacquer or paint. I haven't encountered this feature before.

It doesn't exactly match the swas colouring. Is this a bad sign?

Thanks, Mike.

[Nolan]

Could be a bad sign, but not necessarily, the gold under the pommel has been protected from the atmosphere for decades, also I think looking at blown up pictures or looking at things using a loupe is a bit picky, these things were mass produced and I don't think the Swaz's were painted by Michaelangelo, I wouldn't let a touched up Swaz put me off an otherwise genuine piece if I really wanted it.

[lakesidetrader]

Mike I emailed you another test.

Paul

[Nolan]

Eickhorn 2nd luft Swaz's are often quoted, and quite correctly, as having a 'muted' gold finish, take a look at the edges of the swaz's of your example, you can see a difference in 'Sheen', to me this would indicate genuine wear as per 'hand wear' or 'rubbing against a tunic', even the dullest of objects will take on a shine if subjected to abrasion and looking at the rest of the piece I think it's all compatible with a nice used period piece.

[Mike Swan]

Once again, many thanks for all the words of wisdom. I've now learned to also look inside pommels.

Due to the generally positive tone of the comments, I've decided to keep the dagger as overall it's a very nice piece.

Mike