SS evening dress Broach

[Mauser]

Hi gents

Heres one for you, I have tried to carry some research on this without much luck, from what I did gather it is an SS evening dress Broach, is this piece fantasy ,real or an out right fake?

Any info would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

Mark

[Mauser]

A

[ROBB]

Piece of Fake rubbish froim the seventies ,in fact I think you can still buy it ,Rob (but seek other advice first before you donate it to the Blue Peter Appeal)

[Adam H]

Mark,

This is absolute rubbish! Sorry to be harsh but this is a 100% fantasy piece...just hope you didn't get soaked too badly on it. As ROBB indicates these originated in the 70s and yes I believe I have also seen them recently on repro sites...

Cheers!

Adam

[Mauser]

Thankfully I haven’t brought it dispite the guy swore it was his uncles and he brough it back from the war. Well i shall recommend to the conman who is selling it to shove it where the sun dont shine
Many Thanks Guys
Mark

[Frank Heukemes]

Dear Mark,

Also try to get cultural feeling and understanding for these German things of this time period, it always helps when in doubt. I e.g. did not know this fake but looking at the picture immediately knew it was fake, because no German would wear this on an evening dress. It is just "too much", "in your face" and "cheesy" to be a real item.

Cheers, Frank

[Tony Barto]

Originally Posted by Adam J. Haslett

Mark,

This is absolute rubbish! Sorry to be harsh but this is a 100% fantasy piece...just hope you didn't get soaked too badly on it. As ROBB indicates these originated in the 70s and yes I believe I have also seen them recently on repro sites...

Cheers!

Adam

These are not fantasy pieces. There are a few surviving original examples out there but I'm sorry to say the one posted by Mauser (Mark) is a reproduction.

Here is the obverse of an original example.

Photo courtesy of John Pepera

[Adam H]

Hi Tony,

I stand corrected! I had always thought that these were contrived fantasy pieces. What, in fact, was the original purpose of the insignia?

As Frank pointed out it just doesn't look "Third Reich" to me...and has that cheezy appearance.


Cheers,

Adam

[Tony Barto]

Hi Adam;

These were worn on the SS Evening Dress Tuxedo. Like the SS Cape Eagle, a lot of collectors don't even know these badges ever existed. There is a separate connecting device that attaches to the badge but has not been included in the photo. Don't want to give everything away to the fakers.

[Mark S.]

Is there a device that makes those red eyes flash on and off?

Can anyone provide ANY provenance on this item? Like a photo in wear?

[stogieman]

I too said fake and am quite surprised by Tony's post! But, along with the cape eagle, this now makes exactly one original of each item I have ever seen!

[Bill D.]

I have seen period photos of SS officers in evening dress, and this badge is clearly visible on the right breast.

If you have Volume 1 of Thomas Johnson's "Collecting German War Booty" books (or the recent hardback "coffee table" compilation), there is a photo of Von Ribbentrop's SS evening dress uniform from the David Delich collection. There is a close-up photo of this breast badge.

The badge was widely copied begining in the 1960's. The few originals that I have seen have the almost"frosted" finish, as shown above, and red felt behind the eyes.

[W. C. Stump]

Bill and Tony are correct. Back in the days of yester year I purchased the great Ribbentrop collection. I was unfortunate in the fact that I was financially unable to purchase the uniforms and dagger. However, for a short period of time I had the collection on hold and personally examined everything in the collection. Here is the SS Dinner dress devise that was on Ribbentrop's dinner dress SS Uniform. (Oh yes, he held the honorary rank of SS General).

[Britch]

I have one of the 60's copies that a friend bought in germany in 1969 or 70. He gave it too me when he found out I collected german items. He was so proud of it I never could tell him it was a fake. I do kind of like it, so it hangs out in my dagger display case
Brian

[W. C. Stump]

Here is a photo of all the uniforms of von Ribbentrop.