EK 1914 Beaten but named EK1

[Chris Boonzaier]

Not often you get a one looker named cross..... Beaten and abused... but named.... tailor made for my Pionier Tunic...

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/64476-rare-name-boeshenz/#entry607564

[arb]

Chris,

While not a medal guy, I think that's a wonderful EK with a nice bit of history behind it. Fine acquisition!

Andy

[Stuka f]

Love them too!

Very nice one you have got.

Here is mine;

[Paul R]

What percentage of these have you seen engraved in this manner? I am sure they are super rare, but are they are rare as I am thinking?

[Tony]

That's nice, I find a bashed named cross far more desirable than one that looks like it was afraid to go out on a wet day.

Paul, I have two named crosses, they aren't overly difficult to find and I'd guess at fewer than 5% are named but those engraved back in the day are probably harder to find.

[ÖSTA]

Chris, I wouldn't say your cross is "beaten and abused". I would say it has character!! Nice piece.

[Paul R]

Thanks Tony.

I agree with OSTA. Your cross is a perfect beauty.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

I use "Beaten and abused" as a compliment ;-)

I always differentiate between "hard wear" and "Badly stored for 100 years"....

[Brian R]

Very nice crosses. The beaten/replaced pin on yours, Chris, is really great and speaks to an awarded EK that was worn and cherished.

[VtwinVince]

Nice one. I really like the 'battered and bruised' stuff. I have a Prussian Crown Order 2nd Class with swords that looks like it was run over by a tank. Maybe it was....

[Chris Boonzaier]

As our man was in a Pionier Unit in the Argonne for most if not all of the war... i will have this Argonne Pionier song postcard enlarged to A4 size and mount the cross on it....

Here is the Argonnerwald Pionier song....

[Chris Boonzaier]

This is the card I will have enlarged...

[Chris Boonzaier]

With English text

[Paul R]

Interesting to see the footage colorized!!

[Chris Boonzaier]

Here we go.... enlarged to A4...

[Chris Liontas]

Neat! I'd never heard about a song specifically for the Argonne. Going to have to download that one.

[Glenn R]

I do love engraved crosses. I have owned a handful over the years, most of which I think I've posted here.

My personal favourite I own, has the inscription (in German of course) reading;

"Conceal the longing in your heart with the cross on your breast. Thea."

Lovely crosses there gents.

[gregM]

Nice looking cross Chris.

I prefer my crosses to have that "been there-done that" look about them.

I still do not have an engraved cross of my own. I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short.

[Chris Boonzaier]

Nice looking cross Chris.

I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short.

The last one I had I stupidly sold years ago...... since then I was also a day late and a penny short....

This was an Ebay Buy it now from a non militaria guy..... sorry to say I missed his other item... a cased EK1 for EUR90 !! But this one fit the pocket quite well....

[Brian R]

Great cross, Glenn. I really like crosses with personal inscriptions like yours. It's amazing to see how prevelant the engraving of EKs was in the WWI years relative to how uncommon it was during the Second World War.

[Glenn R]

Thanks Brian. True, I haven't seen very many genuine engraved ww2 crosses. Seems to have been more of a norm in ww1. Perhaps the availability and practice of purchasing a nice silver vaulted piece from a jeweller led to more engraving being done as it may have been something offered.

[Brian R]

True. Perhaps more private purchasing meant more opportunities to employ the services of a jeweler/engraver. I have one engraved WWII EK1 - I will post it in a new thread.

[Chris Boonzaier]

I think the nostelgia factor has a lot to do with it....

If you look at the Photos, Postcards and Feldpost.... maybe up to the very end there seems to still be a romantic view of the war.... then all the way into the 1930s, a nostelgic view....

I am sure jewellers in the 1920s and 30s were also engraving crosses that friends and family were handing out.... for a guy in uniform, an EK1 was like a Tiara or Necklace for a woman in an evening gown... Who would not have appretiated a nice domed, engraved cross from an od Comrade on his 35th Birthday....

WW2 came to an end... and noone was engraving crosses after 1945....

Also... Silver is a nice engraved gift.... a valuable gift.... WW" crosses were cheaper and utilitarian....

[Brian R]

Excellent points. Chris. Just thinking about the amount of crosses engraved during the post-1918 period relative to the post-1945 period speaks volumes.