Article about: by David North Here is the buckle in question. I have held these images for an absolute age and goodness knows who supplied them. If the owner of the said buckle recognises it, then please l
Anyway, just read this post and it got me thinking. I've collected most things over the years, Brit, German, helmets, uniforms, bayonets, etc. etc. and about 15 years or so ago I had what I thought was a bakelite/plastic buckle centre. Now it came to me in a mixed lot from an old collector, HJ, it was correct size for a buckle centre, was made from brown bakelite with a gold wash on it and looked like it had been filed around the circular centre. Almost like it had been a full buckle or broken buckle and the central circle had been sanded down.
I showed it around, collectors, dealers, nobody had ever seen anything like it... I ended up trading it on and who knows where it could be now, or even what it was.... I've been hunting and the best I can find is a crop from a much wider picture. Sorry image is rubbish, huge pull up from a small part of a negative...
Lenny, a first for me and better pics front and rear really would be needed to make any judgement or opinion
I'm afraid it's long gone, and think this is the best pic I have. I'll dig through my negs... It definetly was a puzzler back in the day. One I probably should have kept...
Good thread I have never handled or seen one in over 50 years of buying and selling collecting now militaria they have been talked about in reference books farther back than you might think I can't recall but I have read about them 70"s maybe 80" most say they were a experimental buckle to see how they would work and hold up if this is the case they would be indeed rare. timothy
Well guys, you aint going to believe it, but when i went to pick up my SS RZM 57 today, the collector/dealer said he wanted to show me something that I may like as I was now collecting buckles... So, he then produced this exact same bakelite buckle centre that I had over 15 years ago... You could have knocked me down with a feather. He can't remember where he got it, but he's had it for between 10 and 15 years and I probably reckon I traded it to him back then...
Of course I wasn't passing this by, it had to come home with me.... It's correct dimensions for a HJ centre, and has a gold wash, gild, gold paint or whatever....
Yup, definetly not alloy, it's Bakelite, or a similar plastic, Bakelite does come in a variety of colours. When I originally had it I worked as a Police Photographer and my forensic scientist pal confirmed it was a thermoset plastic, ie. Bakelite...
As to its origins, who knows.... Does the HJ eagle look ok?
Not sure what this HJ insignia is but I don't think it is the normal Bakelite color. Here is the buckle M. Miken found in southern Colorado a few years ago. The buckle actually looked better in hand than in the photos. The detail was very good.
Re: bakelite belt buckles
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by Ben Evans
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