SS Service Dagger for review

[butschekantiques]

Hello everyone,

I appreciate your comments on this one please.

Thanks!
Klaus

www.butschek-antiques.com

[Schlange]

It seems that these dagger was survived a hard polishing.

Schlange

http://www.mojalbum.com/schlange88/albumi

[Br. James]

Hi Klaus,

Just as Schlange has said, this piece appears to have been buffed, polished and touched up to within an inch of it's life! It looks like an original piece to me, but after the buffing it's taken, it's hard to say whether it's from the original orders for SS daggers or from slightly later. It looks like even the maker's mark on the blade has been buffed away, to say nothing of the possibility of an SS Distribution Center mark on the reverse lower crossguard...which isn't there now. The motto accenting on the blade has been completely buffed out, though there is a remnant of discoloration to the edges of the blade which would indicate the perceived need to try and clean this piece up. The grip eagle looks like it's taken some natural wear -- which would normally indicate a dagger that had been well-handled within the period -- but the grip color is dark throughout, even in the chipped and cracked areas, which would indicate that the grip has been re-blackened and polished, and while the scabbard tip ball shows evidence of the piece having been dropped over time (as most daggers were, at least once), the absence of scratches to the scabbard body infer that it has been repainted.

It appears to me that a whole lot of work has been lavished on this dagger to bring it to the state it's now in...and I'm not convinced that such effort is justified in the results. The true life of an antique dagger is seen in the scars it bears, just as much as in the gleam of its hardware. IMO, of course!

Br. James

[butschekantiques]

Hi Br.James & Schlange,

Many thanks for your help and time!

I had exactly the same feeling and described it the same way as you did so far I must say. So I´m glad I did not miss anything.

I also believe it is an original but pretty much "touched dagger".

Thanks a lot!
Klaus

[tobau]

Condition outside here (missing screw,high cleaned,grip,tip,...),but dagger is a real one !

[Rheingold]

Looks like a parts dagger. The grip doesn't match these guards and i'm not convinced about these cross guards.
What happened to the grip? It's very glossy.