SS Ring What do you think?

[Wagriff]

I was just kicking around a puzzle that's bothered me for some considerable number of years now, but nothing of national urgency, of course. And, yes....the last several years, I actually Have been seeing more and more split band rings. Whether they were fakes or just indicated an increase in the number of excavations coming out of Russia is anyone's guess.

[ajax3985]

It is certainly the most logical place for the ring to break, if your an active duty guy running about with a rifle, machine gun, or dicking around with any equipment the ring is going to get hit there or caught there at some point and its going to break or crack as its not made to withstand that. Lot of digging going on last few years so chances are its abuse of the period or in some cases maybe something different, one thing is for sure, I was not there so I don't know other than looking at them and saying this will not hold up to a beating.

[bigmacglenn]

I believe that the splits were done by the owners themselves to allow for a more adjustable fit and easier removal ... Metal Rings Conduct The Cold, and as the fingers will swell accordingly, a tight-fitting ring could cost a man his finger...Makes perfect sense to modify a ring this way...As an M1 Abrams Tank Crewman, we were ordered to remove all of our rings whenever checking the Tank's Battery Packs due to risk of electrocution...Now try to remove a ring that's stuck to your swollen finger, lol...
cheers, Glenn

[Wagriff]

I don't know...if given a choice of constantly being pinched every time I picked up my weapon or equipment or go without, I'd say to Hell with the ring altogether...but that's just me, of course.

[jamoros]

If I were to buy this ring, normal procedure would be to enter a thread and as such, I would like to find out from other members as much as possible about the item s condition and if possible, what, who, where and why that hapenned. I do not see any harm at all discussing about this topic, since this ring in particular has got a split shank, at the end of the day, what is the purpose of this forum, but to openly and honestly discuss things and hear about different view points, even though sometimes as we all know there is no such straight answer. Regards, Juan

You know that most of the rings or a very high percentage that are seen in market are fake and artificially aged. If you go to wear patterns on Honor rings there is a broad array of conditions to be found from ground dug to mint, so there should be no real difference there. In addition the Germans are running a wide array of silver content in these items from .800 on up and that would certainly be a factor in how a ring holds up to normal wear and tear or cold weather for that matter, but these are not Honor rings. These are private purchase pieces, they are thin and in many cases not at all hearty in construction and it would not take a lot to split a shank between the thin band and the taper seen to the rear, that is why they split in that area, especially when considering wear and joiners.

Cold weather may be a factor but the reality is you do not need cold weather, you don't need a dead body, a frozen dead body, or a gassed up Taco Bell body to have this as an end result. I'm not knocking or mocking as it is possible but by taking this route your sending a message to market that split shanks mean bloated dead SS men on the Eastern front and they need to start clipping shanks. There is no foundation at all for this conclusion, unless you get yourself a decomposing body and a private purchase ring and sit around waiting for the shank to split inhaling methane. It's not a test I would take interest in, nor would it change the answer.

If your not careful, all you will succeed in doing is increasing the amount of fakes in the market with split shanks, will take less than a couple weeks and would not be the first time. I don't know how this got here, it's silly.

[ajax3985]

If I were to buy this ring, normal procedure would be to enter a thread and as such, I would like to find out from other members as much as possible about the item s condition and if possible, what, who, where and why that hapenned. I do not see any harm at all discussing about this topic, since this ring in particular has got a split shank, at the end of the day, what is the purpose of this forum, but to openly and honestly discuss things and hear about different view points, even though sometimes as we all know there is no such straight answer. Regards, Juan

Its a pretty simple equation, expansion would be limited and less likely to snap a shank as opposed to abuse unless the shank were weakened by a joiner or a crack. Your not going anywhere with conjecture as the end result can only be two scenario's, the ring will either have a clean break/cut or the ring will have a stress break and the difference visible under magnification with a break due to abuse mimicking stress. Dead bodies and the zombie apocalypse are pure conjecture plain and simple and while it is possible you cant prove it nor is it likely to be a root cause in any percentile worth diving into. Its not a ring question. Normal procedure is to do your homework and look at issues of authenticity, cadavers are rarely necessary to achieve this goal.

As an aside, you guys can say whatever you like and I do not mean to be a hard ass. The first dealer however that go's up with a dead corpse description on a broken ring and applies a premium, will get my attention and will not be happy at all as I beat him endlessly and aggressively on every move he makes for the rest of his career.

[octavian]

Proof stamp inside screams fake

[hdmarley]

Proof stamp inside screams fake

In your opinion, how should one look so we have a reference?

[Glenn66]

My ground dug SS enamel ring that is currently on its way to me. Split shank from wear, cold, exploding zombie? I'm not going to guess and don't care really. Only want to get it here, tidy up some of the corrosion and give it a gentle polish (if need be) and admire it for a long, long time.

[Wagriff]

I remember this ring-it's a beauty. So, you've finally joined the Dark Side of the Runes! lol Nice pick up!