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04-18-2014 10:29 PM
# ADS
Circuit advertisement
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Looks like an Assmann buckle to me, there are some pics of Assmann Luft buckles in the database with catches like this, any chance of pics of the buckle front and rear head on?
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Thanks, Ben! I will ask for better photos. What do you think of the spot on the front (upper right on the obverse photo)? Do you think it may have been a period repair?
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More than likely one of these as pictured. These were normally classed as late war Luft buckles, never seen one with tab before and no other colour other than dark blue. Will be interesting to see if the tab is original to the buckle. Mark could be a braze mark from when they originally put the catch on and came through the nickel plate
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Ben Evans
More than likely one of these as pictured. These were normally classed as late war Luft buckles, never seen one with tab before and no other colour other than dark blue. Will be interesting to see if the tab is original to the buckle. Mark could be a braze mark from when they originally put the catch on and came through the nickel plate
Thanks for the help on this one! The tab doesn't look like the Assman ones I've seen, which all seem to use the narrow cartouche. It's very hard to tell for sure, though! Would a late war buckle be nickel plated from the factory, I wonder?
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I doubt very much, being that late in the war. These would have been 1943-44, by that time nickel would I imagine be in short supply.
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Ben Evans
I doubt very much, being that late in the war. These would have been 1943-44, by that time nickel would I imagine be in short supply.
Well, it may become more clear if I can get more photos. It doesn't look like a cheap chrome job, which is a bit strange. Maybe someone just polished it down to bare metal.
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Thanks for that photo! It's hard to tell from the photos—does it look shiny underneath the blue paint on the back? Just speculation, but it could have been nickel plated/polished and then painted 'Luftwaffe blue' for use in the field.
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It doesn't seem to be shiny on the reverse. It appears fairly dull. The top doesn't rust (I dropped some saline on the front to see if it was very shiny steel, no rust over night. And, I know, this is a heresy, but I was still at the point of thinking it was a ruined buckle. ) Since yours is also shiny, I am wondering- was there a fad and airmen would plate their buckles? Was this possible in a large repair facility? I have no understanding of metal plating, or of the air force style, and what they had access to. I do know in the US Navy, when I was in, if one knew the right people, one could get just about anything made, engraved, etc. The number of custom made belt buckles was simply astonishing, as on my sub, there were some very skilled craftsman, and they made greet buckles. I wish I had one of them, but at the time I thought they looked dumb. But I don't know if this happened in the Luftwaffe.
Patrick
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