Good afternoon,
I have been offered this cufftitle and wanted to get some opinions on it before I either go through with the deal or pull out of it.
Before you read further I understand the tendency to look at an item and not want to go out on a limb and comment on it out of fear that your assessment may be incorrect. In this case with this being a "non-standard" version I think there are no wrong answers. All I ask is that you look at the pics and judge the title on the merits of its construction, material quality, wear, and any other data point we would normally use to determine originality. Take a shot in the dark and lay out what your GUT feeling is on it.
A little background - these pictures have been reviewed by Scott Pritchett and he would not come out and say with 100% certainty that he thought it was a repro or fantasy piece as he has never seen one before. He provided some technical information on the distribution of the different patterns of GD titles and then left the discussion open as to whether-or-not one like this could have been produced, but with no solid proof behind its wartime production/distribution he said there was a slight possibility it is another variation that has not yet been encountered. This is not blessing it - just saying it cannot be ruled a fake (yet).
Understanding Scott has handled more GD material than probably all of us combined and his expertise is rock solid, I was told by the seller that both Peter von Lukacs and Klaus Butschek have both seen at least pics of this title and deemed it a rare, original variation. The seller stands behind the title and fact that it has been vetted 1000% and encouraged me to post it for discussion so if either of you see this Thread and say this is not true please say so and I will go back to him about that.
I have agonized over the pics and in terms of the construction characteristics of a Third Reich cufftitle I feel it is 100% in conformity with original insignia that uses this type of base cloth, sewing, different bobbin thread, shows this degree of wear, etc.. The one and only thing I can say with 100% certainty that is not in conformity with the 1st pattern GD is the formation of the "ss" characters (does not have the vertical diagnol stroke) and the other point that is purely a preference is that I am not crazy about double strand stitching on period pieces as is seen on the material fold at the back where it is butted together. I know this vs. single strand was done, but it is the exception in period hand sewing.
So I'll be the first one on the limb - and I by no means am trying to grasp for branches here. I have never seen another one like this discussed nor offered as a repro somewhere etc.. hence because of that and its construction details and character I think it is an original cufftitle that was produced in very limited numbers between the time they went from the green band of the 1st pattern to the black Sutterlin.
Anybody else willing to give a gut feeling? All comments are sincerely appreciated.
vr
Bob
I have been offered this cufftitle and wanted to get some opinions on it before I either go through with the deal or pull out of it.
Before you read further I understand the tendency to look at an item and not want to go out on a limb and comment on it out of fear that your assessment may be incorrect. In this case with this being a "non-standard" version I think there are no wrong answers. All I ask is that you look at the pics and judge the title on the merits of its construction, material quality, wear, and any other data point we would normally use to determine originality. Take a shot in the dark and lay out what your GUT feeling is on it.
A little background - these pictures have been reviewed by Scott Pritchett and he would not come out and say with 100% certainty that he thought it was a repro or fantasy piece as he has never seen one before. He provided some technical information on the distribution of the different patterns of GD titles and then left the discussion open as to whether-or-not one like this could have been produced, but with no solid proof behind its wartime production/distribution he said there was a slight possibility it is another variation that has not yet been encountered. This is not blessing it - just saying it cannot be ruled a fake (yet).
Understanding Scott has handled more GD material than probably all of us combined and his expertise is rock solid, I was told by the seller that both Peter von Lukacs and Klaus Butschek have both seen at least pics of this title and deemed it a rare, original variation. The seller stands behind the title and fact that it has been vetted 1000% and encouraged me to post it for discussion so if either of you see this Thread and say this is not true please say so and I will go back to him about that.
I have agonized over the pics and in terms of the construction characteristics of a Third Reich cufftitle I feel it is 100% in conformity with original insignia that uses this type of base cloth, sewing, different bobbin thread, shows this degree of wear, etc.. The one and only thing I can say with 100% certainty that is not in conformity with the 1st pattern GD is the formation of the "ss" characters (does not have the vertical diagnol stroke) and the other point that is purely a preference is that I am not crazy about double strand stitching on period pieces as is seen on the material fold at the back where it is butted together. I know this vs. single strand was done, but it is the exception in period hand sewing.
So I'll be the first one on the limb - and I by no means am trying to grasp for branches here. I have never seen another one like this discussed nor offered as a repro somewhere etc.. hence because of that and its construction details and character I think it is an original cufftitle that was produced in very limited numbers between the time they went from the green band of the 1st pattern to the black Sutterlin.
Anybody else willing to give a gut feeling? All comments are sincerely appreciated.
vr
Bob
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