Kriegsmarine Admirals Eickhorn damascus dagger - Need Authentication

[CBH]

A friend of mine owns this beautiful Damamcus Presentation Dagger belonging to Grand Admiral Erich Raeder, and after some convincing and promises of secrecy has given me permission to share it here. I've used a photo of the Damamcus blade before but never the shown whole dagger. Hope you All enjoy seeing this rare beauty and all comments are always welcome. Also I didn't tell him to take it apart, this is how he took the photos. I've ask for a couple more of the full dagger and sheath. Thanks

[humble collector]

Thank you for sharing such a rare and special piece 👍. Rare objects are nice to see on the forum from time to time 😊

[humble collector]

It's a sweet piece. Rather look at items such as this than I.E. 50 SS helmets in a week.

[CBH]

This is a One of a Kind, they made a million helmets.

Not to say I wouldn't love a nice DD SS helmet, but I'd rather have the dagger.

[humble collector]

To each his own Chris 😊. I've found if it has a swaz or sigrune it gets collected 😉.

[MAP]

I know nothing about these types personality daggers or authenticity (but that is not what the thread is about). All I can say is that that Damascus is awesome. Really amazing to look at it.

[carpediem]

A very nice blade! Your friend is lucky to have it!

[Larry C]

This is a One of a Kind, they made a million helmets.

Not to say I wouldn't love a nice DD SS helmet, but I'd rather have the dagger.

All comments are welcome?...... not only did the KM produce many helmets....I want the readers here to keep an open mind that alot of these KM Honor daggers were reproduced also.

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/krieg...inions-212550/
https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/krieg...hs-ago-662149/

The Oct 20 1940 date comes back soley to U-Boat captain Gunther Prien..which this dagger was awarded.

Admiral Raeder began his distribution of these Honor daggers in 1939 ..1st recipient was Admiral Albrecht ( Raeder type 2 presentation ) Dec 31 1939

Question : Why would Raeder award himself a latter date dagger with only a sole Recipient named Gunther Prien.
Why would Raeder award himself after the fact with a ( Type 3 Presentation dated 1940 ?

Last question ..can we see a pic of the scabbard? ...it should be very ornate looking.

I would like to hear from dr73 Tomaz Gerrit and Oleg on this one. Sorry to be critical Chris ..but these are reproduced as much as SS daggers.

Lets hear from the big guns first.

Regards Larry

[Rossi]

Chris, Thanks for taking time to post the dagger. Would love to see more blade and scabbard pictures as well. I am not versed in the honor dagger realm so I cannot in good faith opine on this. I did see about a year ago the pommel only pictured below go at Auction out east. Here is what was published with the auction description. Unfortunately with all rare and coveted dress daggers & swords comes the replica train not far behind with the conductor fast Eddie trying to make a buck. This duplication of the art deco honor daggers of the third reich is maddening. It casts doubt all over the collecting community. I for one believe these pieces are amazing and my sincere hope is that your friend does have one of the few and that it is the real deal. Interested to see what others think.

KRIEGSMARINE HONOR DAGGER DIAMOND-STUDDED POMMEL
Rare and most desirable diamond-studded 2nd Model Naval Honor Dagger Pommel by Carl Eickhorn, designed by master artist Paul Casberg. The 1 3/4" tall ornamental pommel bears a finely-detailed left-facing eagle with a diamond-encrusted swastika encircled by a wreath of oak leaves at lower-center. There are sixteen round multi-faceted diamonds in all, with four in each arm of the swastika. A 1994 jeweler's appraisal further describes the stones, and lists color as "H-I". clarity as "VS". The threaded pommel itself is a much larger proportion than standard Kriegsmarine dagger types, and much more detailed. The metal is a brass base, heavily fire-gilded. No assembly number is stamped within, as this pommel was never mounted on a serial numbered finished dagger. It remains in all respects identical to every fully authenticated example. This splendid piece is accompanied by a copy of the signed letter from Herr Eickhorn, given to Col. James Atwood in the 1960's. Also present is a copy of a letter from Thomas Wittmann of Wittmann Militaria to our consignor sending a photostat of Eickhorn's letter and further describing the history of these pommels. A great rarity, one of perhaps only 18 examples known to exist. Grand Admiral Erich Raeder and his later replacement, Admiral Karl Doenitz, awarded cased "Honor Pattern" naval dirks bearing their sentiments to several deserving successful U-boat captains, other naval heroes, and also to at least two retiring admirals. The pommels which graced these daggers were made in advance of the dagger presentations, and were made is a very small group at one time. Atwood came into the pommels in the Sixties, and subsequently sold them to interested collectors over the years. They now reside in advanced collections throughout the world. This pommel is the identical example which appears in a color photo in Johnson's Volume 8, Page 195. Provenance: The War Museum.

[BOB COLEMAN]

I do know that Atwood had a few made in the late 60's when some of the finest Damascus artists were still alive and working. I do not have enough knowledge to comment on this piece one way or the other.