In my opinion this is a fake WWII Luftwaffe marking added to a period butterscotch marbled Bakelite fork. It has been rotary engraved in a condensed gothic font. The faker got the machine height a bit wrong: you can see where the spindle or collet scratched the high point as it moved up and down. And of course all the old wear marks are interrupted by the new unworn engraving. This was sold from Kidderminster Warwickshire in the UK, but it could have been made anywhere. Close examination shows it to have been produced on a computer controlled rotary engraver. The older manual Pantograph engravers that used a tracing master with stylus show cutting and depth patterns that are much less even and with more start/ stop marks. These types of German 1920s-1940s Bakelite forks spoons and knives are in plentiful supply on Etsy at $2.50 -$6 per item, so more embellished fakes similar to this one will probably surface.
The recent popularity of computer controlled engravers (rotary, CO2 laser, and diamond drag) from companies like Vision, Roland, Gravograph, Xenetech, and Newing Hall have made it quick and easy for gift companies and jewelers to machine engrave cups and tankards, trophies, watches, jewelry, signage, and all sorts of customized and event gifts and “promotional specialties” for trade shows and corporate presents. With machines starting prices around $2,000, most Third Reich fakers are probably carting period items to established engravers, who are just as happy to produce “Luftwaffe 1943” or “DAK 1942” as they are to mark “ Happy Golden Wedding Anniversary” or “West Hampshire Darts Champions 2013.”
I believe that most original third Reich canteen cutlery in Alpaca and aluminum was probably machine roll marked, a process involving costly production oriented machinery and tooling generally beyond the reach of fakers. Some may have been press marked. In my opinion, impact marked items and rotary engraved items are likely to be fake. Laser etched items are obviously fake. I suspect that computer diamond drag engraving lacks the inherent variations in cut depth of using hand gravers. I live one town away from what used to be a major silverware producing town, and have accumulated a bucket full of old hand gravers and engraving ball vises and hammers. My attempts to use them on brass resulted in a wide variety of depth of cuts. So machine diamond drag engraving of fake markings should also be easy to spot with a good magnifier.
The recent popularity of computer controlled engravers (rotary, CO2 laser, and diamond drag) from companies like Vision, Roland, Gravograph, Xenetech, and Newing Hall have made it quick and easy for gift companies and jewelers to machine engrave cups and tankards, trophies, watches, jewelry, signage, and all sorts of customized and event gifts and “promotional specialties” for trade shows and corporate presents. With machines starting prices around $2,000, most Third Reich fakers are probably carting period items to established engravers, who are just as happy to produce “Luftwaffe 1943” or “DAK 1942” as they are to mark “ Happy Golden Wedding Anniversary” or “West Hampshire Darts Champions 2013.”
I believe that most original third Reich canteen cutlery in Alpaca and aluminum was probably machine roll marked, a process involving costly production oriented machinery and tooling generally beyond the reach of fakers. Some may have been press marked. In my opinion, impact marked items and rotary engraved items are likely to be fake. Laser etched items are obviously fake. I suspect that computer diamond drag engraving lacks the inherent variations in cut depth of using hand gravers. I live one town away from what used to be a major silverware producing town, and have accumulated a bucket full of old hand gravers and engraving ball vises and hammers. My attempts to use them on brass resulted in a wide variety of depth of cuts. So machine diamond drag engraving of fake markings should also be easy to spot with a good magnifier.
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