WW 1 EK1 Vaulted Concave

[rhodesia]

Ok I'm having bad luck with Third Reich awards but always been good collecting German Imperial items from the first world war, so I'm looking at this one to buy it's for sale for three hundred dollars or I can make an offer. It looks real right along with the others that I have but I have never seen a Vaulted Concave EK1 unmarked 3 piece iron core and it is silver had it checked with a jeweler. So fake or real before I buy this which I don't have this type that is curved. Thank you for your opinon on fake or real.

[Chopperman]

Hi,
The cross is authentic. It was made by Paul Meybauer. IMO, one of the better
quality cross makers of the time. This one has a couple condition issues ie. some
paint loss to the iron core and the C catch has been repaired.

[rhodesia]

Hi,
The cross is authentic. It was made by Paul Meybauer. IMO, one of the better
quality cross makers of the time. This one has a couple condition issues ie. some
paint loss to the iron core and the C catch has been repaired.

Thank you for looking at this for me, I just have never seen a Vaulted Concave say how can you tell It was made by Paul Meybauer. IMO without any hallmarks. I know this sounds stupid but would this be an officers or enlisted who might have worn it since it is so detailed.

[Chopperman]

The easiest give-away on this one is the style of the pin used. I also compare
the beading of the frame at the inner corners against maker marked crosses.

Imperial Iron cross makers used several different style pins, catches, screwbacks ect
on first class crosses. In many cases, just looking at the shape of the pin and catch
can tell you the company who made it.

There is no way to know if the recipient of the cross was an officer or not. Most awarded crosses
were flat. Vaulted crosses were usually private purchase items. Your guy was most likely awarded
a flat cross and then he upgraded to the more stylish vaulted cross.

Here is an example of different Imperial attachment styles --

[rbminis]

Thank you for looking at this for me, I just have never seen a Vaulted Concave say how can you tell It was made by Paul Meybauer. IMO without any hallmarks. I know this sounds stupid but would this be an officers or enlisted who might have worn it since it is so detailed.

The hardware, crown, beading, date, and cross can all give details to those who study these, who the maker could be.
Very few were vaulted from the factory, most were done by the recipient.
This one could be worn by an EM or an Officer.
Ralph.

Edit....
Greg beat me to it.

[buellmeister]

Great looking Cross!