Description
Product Description: This Imperial German Naval Dagger is an outstanding and complete piece, of the highest quality, and with outstanding eye appeal. The fantastic and extremely desirable real Damascus steel blade has a perfect tip and no damage. The Damascus pattern is very evident and beautiful. The obverse ricasso has a beautiful gilded presentation inscription with the initials “M. S.” and “Weihnachten 1912” (Christmas 1912). The reverse ricasso is stamped with the knight’s helmet emblem of WKC. The blade retains the original red felt buffer pad, and the push button scabbard release is intact. The stunning handle of this presentation dagger features a lovely “bone” grip. The grip has a couple of fine hairline surface cracks which are normal with this material. The grip wire is tight, and the pommel and crossguard retain beautiful original gold finish, with only slight wear. All of the original fine detail remains intact. The handle has an original and beautiful Portepee, correctly tied. The Portepee wire has a real silver content that shows moderate age toning. This Imperial German Naval Dagger is complete with its original scabbard. The scabbard shows only very light wear, with virtually all of the original bright gold finish still intact. The ornamented suspension rings retain the original hangers. The hangers are complete, with some expected age related deterioration to the leather surface. This is an extremely impressive dagger that is remarkably well-preserved. It is in excellent plus condition.
Historical Description: The German Navy adopted the use of a dress dagger for its officers in the 19th century. In 1935, the Nazi leadership reintroduced universal conscription for German men as part of a plan to greatly expand German military power. The German Navy became part of the new Wehrmacht and was renamed the “Kriegsmarine.” The leadership of the Kriegsmarine was largely very traditional and initially retained many pre-Nazi traditions including the traditional dress dagger which was unchanged since WWI. But in 1938, a new dagger was introduced for the Kriegsmarine, that bore the Nazi swastika emblem. This pattern of dress dagger is known today as the Second Model Navy Dagger. The earlier “flaming ball” device used on the first model pommel was replaced with a German national eagle emblem clutching a wreathed swastika. The crossguard on the second model Navy dagger was longer than that found on the first pattern. The standard blade was acid etched with a fouled anchor and ornate foliage pattern. Because it was expected that these daggers would be worn at sea, all parts with the exception of the blade were initially made from brass. The Second Model Navy Dagger was made by more than a dozen manufacturers in a number of variants until the end of WWII. As with all officer dress daggers, they were not issued, but were private purchase items. Officers could customize these to suit their own tastes by upgrading them and customizing them in various ways.
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