LW NCO collar tress question

[Fahnenjunker]

Gents,

I have a LW NCO collar tress and it confuses me a bit. It glows under blacklight but the white threads that form the base of the tress burn up like cotton. So, what can it be? Fake? Post-war? Late war?

[Willi Z.]

Can you post a photo for us to see?

There are various levels of 'glowing' when using a blacklight, and it is far from an absolute in authenticating an item.

[Gene]

It will glow if it's been laundered

[MaxxBrunn1938]

It will glow if it's been laundered

Very true about it being laundered, most cases with tress as well as bullion items it should appear as a purplish gray under UV. Be aware that even Post War DDR tress will do the same..
The only white glow and I mean Day Glow white tress is the stuff coming from China.

But please post some photos of it.

Joe

[Willi Z.]

Laundered original items glow differently than some fake items. Like any other tool, it is about knowing how to use it and what it is telling you. Even in this day and age of improved fakes it does help.

[Fahnenjunker]

Thanks for the replies so far. I am aware that blacklight is not a definitive method of determining, but can be a bad sign. Here are some photo's:


and in normal light:

[John Hodgin]

That brightness appears normal, the Tresse is after all, metallic. Reproductions glow vividly.

No comment on the originality however, better photos are needed for that.
John

[Fahnenjunker]

Here are some more pictures, taken in complete dark. I compared the tress with a LW NCO shoulderboard (does not glow at all) and a piece of modern white paper (glows like hell). The glowing on the tress on the collar is somewhere in between. I hope this helps.

[CWP]

There was material used during the war that glows and not just from post-war laundering. The idea that anything that fluoresces under UV light was made after 1945 is false. There have been a lot of threads on this in the past.

[Fahnenjunker]

Thanks Chris. Yes, I am aware of the fact that blacklight is not the ultimate test and I have searched the threads, but I still find it difficult to determine whether an object glows, it is acceptable or not. It often depends on the object itself, but can it also be determined looking at the 'degree' of glowing?

[Renaud]

Thanks Chris. Yes, I am aware of the fact that blacklight is not the ultimate test and I have searched the threads, but I still find it difficult to determine whether an object glows, it is acceptable or not. It often depends on the object itself, but can it also be determined looking at the 'degree' of glowing?

I have the same issue with my new UV light : some items does not glow at all, some glow like sun, others glow but not so much....

[John Hodgin]

I have the same issue with my new UV light : some items does not glow at all, some glow like sun, others glow but not so much....

Never have used a UV light to authenticate anything, but do have one for UV photography. In the past have shined it on the collection, just for fun, and nothing glows. The white of a Kreta cuff band looks very bright, but does not glow as say, modern white tennis shoes do. You should test modern and period fabrics of similar hues to get a feeling of what UV does on authentic WWII fabric. All the period cotton and wool fabrics and threads, and even synthetic insignia, look very dull under UV light.

[Fahnenjunker]

Well, I just compared it to a Heer NCO tress, and same as with the above shoulderboard, the heer tress did not glow, while compared to that the suspected LW tress glows bright. It is not so bright however compared to my running shoes. It remains a complicated subject...