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| SS Belt Buckles - Original vs. Fake
By Jean Pierre Redeuilh Copyright July 2001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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Since few years, some very nice reproductions of SS EM belt buckles in
aluminum are offered for sale on the market. These include buckles
marked 822/37, 822/38 and 36/40. Oldest productions
were with reduced size all around and a dull gray color, but the latest
production can fit on an original WWII German belt and slide freely on it.
Color has been improved as well.
There is good and bad news with those (at least with the example in this
study). The bad is that it is not possible to spot them from a simple
photo. The oldest production, apart from the gray color, had a
distinctive post sleeve which was round all along, including behind the
prongs (seePhoto 1). This feature alone was a quick give away when you were
planning to buy from the internet.
Unfortunately on the new production the color has changed to a lighter
version (still more dull than an original but no longer too gray) and
the post sleeve is a complete cast of the original, so they have now the
same "groove" behind the prongs. If the photo is with a very good
resolution you will be able to spot casting defects. Beware of fuzzy
photos !
The good part is when you have the buckle in your hands. Color is still
too dull and the feeling of the aluminum is odd and rough to the touch.
Definition and details on the front are as usual excellent, but the back
still has a bunch of flaws and cracks which can be seen with any
magnificent glass. The too square hole in the catch common to older
production has also been changed and is now conform to the original. The
post is no longer in steel (older production) but is now in some kind of
aluminum but fortunately still hammered in position (a lot of marks are
on both ends - which are NOT on any original, even on buckles been
heavily used on combat).
As said above, the post sleeve is now cast from the original and has by
now the missing "groove" of the older production behind the prongs. It
is now conform to originals but fortunately the casting process left
some marks/lines on it. Prongs are still shorter than originals.
This brings us to size. Using a caliper there is still a notable size
difference. Fakers increased the internal size (width) to make those buckles fit on
an original WWII German belt (see chart) but all the other measurements
are still smaller. I let you study the chart and see by yourself. For
this comparison I used an original 36/40 with some wear on it, which is
similar to the fake in this article.
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| International Militaria would like to thank Jean Pierre Redeuilh for his excellent contribution. For more information, check the extensive website of the SS Buckle Group |
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The group's "FILES" section also has instructions on how to access over 400 high quality photos showing both original and fake SS belt buckles. You can view the group's photos at http://ca.photos.yahoo.com/jpredeu |
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If you have any articles, opinions, photos or recommendations regarding militaria
fakes and/or reproductions, we'd like to hear from you. Please send your information to the webmaster |
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