kienzle wrist watch 50th birthday 1939 anerversary adolf hitler fake or original??

[reness]

i cannot post pics but can email the fotos i have of this watch that i just aquired.its made by kienzle is a windup(still works)it is a very simple design with the eagle and swastika in the middle and "geburtstag"(birthday in german) on top of eagle and underneath eagle "20 april 1939" and in the middle of watch left and right of eagle "adolf" on the left and "hitler" on the right.

if someone can post the fotos 4 me i hope to see if this is original or fake thanks in advance Andreas

[markie]

posting pics on behalf of andreas

[markie]

2

[markie]

3

[CWP]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the decoration on this watch is not original to the period in my opinion.

[reness]

HI,THANKS FOR THE REPLY...AND MARK,THANKS FOR POSTING THE FOTOS!!! IM NOT TOO DISSAPOINTED AS I DID NOT PAY TOO MUCH,WHEN IM NOT TOO SURE ABOUT SOMETHING I WILL ONLY PAY WHAT IT WOULD BE WORTH AS A REPRO SO THAT I CAN NEVER REALLY LOSE OUT TOO MUCH (NOT LIKE THE BIGGER AND COSTLIER MISTAKES WE ALL MAKE WHEN WE START OUT).BUT DO YOU KNOW IF IT IS ONE OF THE RUSSIAN MADE WATCHES THAT IVE HEARD ABOUT OR IS THE STYL MORE LIKE THE NIGIERIAN TYPE ALARM CLOCK FAKES???AND IS THE EAGLE/SWASTIKA A FANTASY OR JUST NOT CORRECT FOR 1939??ANY ADDITIONAL INFO WOULD BE GREAT AS IM REALLY TRYING TO LEARN...I WISH I BOUGHT THE OTHER KIENZIEL FOR 2 EURO(IM SURE AFTER READING THE WRISTWATCH POSTS THAT IT WAS AN OG WEHRMACHT WATCH WITH THE 2ND SMALL DIALL ON THE BOTTOM CENTRE AND A 5? NUMBER SERIAL ON THE BACK...BUT THE BANDS WERE MISSING)BUT ILL SEE IF THE SELLER IS THERE NEXT WEEK AS IVE SEEN HIM AT THE FLEAMARKET BEFORE../THANKS AND BEST REGARDS FROM KAISERSLAUTERN ANDREAS

[Steve Sherlock]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the decoration on this watch is not original to the period in my opinion.

Why, specifically, do you think that?

Steve

[Gene]

Is it me or does this watch have a IIII instead of IV for a Roman numeral 4? This watch is a complete fantasy piece.

[Bob Hritz]

Gene,

Both IIII and IV are acceptable Roman Numerals. Both were used during the Empire.

HOWEVER, that does not negate the fact the watch face is a poor amateurish attempt at a fantasy.

Bob Hritz

[Steve Sherlock]

Gene,

Both IIII and IV are acceptable Roman Numerals. Both were used during the Empire.

HOWEVER, that does not negate the fact the watch face is a poor amateurish attempt at a fantasy.

Bob Hritz

OK, I have nothing vested here, and I don't really care if the watch is good or bad. Also, I am not doubting the nay sayers. However, why is this watch face "a poor amateurish attempt at a fantasy"? Could we have some specifics here? How do we know a watch such as this was never made? And if it was, why, exactly, is this one bad? Do we have something which goes beyond mere speculation?

Steve

[reness]

if it is a repro its a very good one in my opinion,as i cannot find info on another i do not believe they were made in large number if old or just a one off if new... whatever it is im happy with it(i wear it) even if if is a repro of a 50 th birthday hitler anaversary.thanks for all you comments and does anyone know where i can find some fotos of other ww2 wristwatches real or repro as i only found 1(adolf face on watch..supposidly real) on the whole web..???THANKS

[CWP]

Well for one thing, no watch like this was ever brought back as a souvenir by a GI veteran. This would have been an attractive souvenir, nothing like this has been seen until recent years.

Another thing, what would this be? A presentation from Hitler, or to Hitler? A commemorative thing for the public? It doesn't make sense.

Kitsch items like this were oficially forbidden by Nazi policy. Early in the Nazi period, there were things like Hitler tapestries and SA cookie cutters, but by 1939 this had been phased out as not in keeping with Nazi ideals.

The design is nothing like TR design, with its huge, gaudy eagle. The green wreath with the red center is absurd. And look closesly, who is ABOLF Hitler??? Simply put, it is painfully obvious that this is a fantasy from Eastern Europe in keeping with those shown in the SS alarm clock thread.

This is not a reproduction, it is a fantasy that never existed. You WEAR this?????

[Steve Sherlock]

LOL. I didn't catch the misspelling of Hitler's first name.

Steve

[Bob Hritz]

I have always been fascinated by escapement movements, therefore have a small collection of complicated movement watches. The golden era of watchmaking was from the 1920s to 1950, when designs, movements, and casements were works of art. Even the cheapest watches attempted to be attractive. The cheapest watches had printed paper faces, where the middle of the road watches used emboss printed dials of silvered brass or porcelin. The finest timepieces had hand lettered dials. The run of the ink, on the 'Abalf Hitler' watch shows it is stamped. In the last 30 years, there has been an influx of fake character watches (I collect those also) and fake character alarm clocks. You only have to see one to know it is not of the era or made to the standard of period pieces.

Beside the fact that it was illegal to use the national emblem in advertising, the lack of quality of the dial face, the bleeding of the ink, and the horribly misspelled Abalf would be enough to give pause.

Bob Hritz

[reness]

first off all i would like to say that i do believe that its a fantasy piece. ans yes I DO WEAR THIS ...and the d which looks like a b is a d..it was commonly used in this variation in the "alt deutsche schrift" art of writting and its not abalf.. the a is an o but the glass had some dirt on it... and just for the point i know that heaps of things were made for adolfs 50th birthday ..his birthday jubeleums mein kampf ausgabe..50th anerversary fountain pens and much much more???and the face has no "bleeding ink"???if anything not sufficiant ink in my opinion....personally its no bauhaus or simple design but i think its unfair to call this watch "kitch" in design(although the green and red do look horrible)...this is the only on i have ever seen and for 5 euros this fantasy piece was a bargain in my opinion..the person or company must be making a killing charging prices like this..thanks for your comments and best regards from germany andreas