Graf

couple of more minis Sadly not mine plus a Badge similar to New World ==again not mine -was sold on Ebay last year

Hi Igor, if you go to the site of the dealer who sold the fakes there is reasonable quality of the Order with chain Look in the sold items section -then go to militaria then pre 1908 Order and stroll through the pages and will see it the click to zoom the pictures. Graf

Hi Igor, Which one do you believe is a fake? If am not mistaken you mean the Orders in the smal pictures, because the rough work and bad details The close up Order looks OK to me It is the second type Prince Alexander Batemberg of Military Order without the chain Regards Graf

Hi Igor, Can you give your arguments why this is a Fake to be more clear to the memberes of the Forum Hi Ruiz, There were no pictures of the reverse of those Stars i contacted the Auction House No reply so far Perhaps their Ego will not allow them to do so It looks like there is a "new kid on the block " perhaps in Bulgaria who is making and spreading those new wave of fakes. Although, there are no pictures on reverse I suspect the pin system is 100% identical for all three Stars as many common features you can see on the front - first you detected poor quality of the body of the m -they are identical for all of them - there is a poor details on the dots and the letters -the identical Ferdinand initial on the middle - the dark are on the edges of both Military merit Stars The only thing that can verify them as fakes is the "soft enamel' test which , sadly, we cannot perform I might be wrong, however when three Stars from the same Class with several common questionable features appear at the same time for sale -it should alarm bell very loudly BTW long time ago i held in my hands similar Stars and after identifying that they are fakes ( soft enamel was the biggest give away feature) I returned them to the famous at that time Faker Victor or Viktor or Karissa. At that time I did not keep any files of such items as i do now. Regards Graf

Hi, Just to to as to let you know that three fake Stars will be on Auction in Austria on 11th of November. I will try to alert the the Auction House Be aware Graf

Hi Egorka, The Order of St Alexander is one of the most beautiful ones and also could be the most confusing one for a novice collector. Te Set you presented in My opinion was presented in the early years of King Boris III period It is 1st Class The Box is an early Boris III emission, however the Star and the Cross are from an earlier period of his father King Ferdinand (more likely left over Sets from this Period as it was a common practice during this period) It is so called Kings Model and was awarded from 1908 -1944 To have a better idea Here are the Classes during this period: Grand Cross - Star and a Cross (width 55 mm) with a Red Sash with a rosette- Both Star and a Cross are with White enamel 1st Class - Star with a Cross ( width 50-51 mm) with a Red Sash with black edges -Both Star and a Cross are with Green Enamel 2nd Class -Star and a Cross (width 50-51 mm ) with a red neck ribbon -Both Star and a Cross are with White enamel 3rd Class - Only Cross without Star - Cross (width 50-51 mm) is with a Green enamel with a lion in the central medallion and with a red neck ribbon 4th Class - Cross (width 38-39 mm) with a White enamel and red ribbon Austrian Type triangular ribbon with an Officer rosette for a breast wearing- Cross is Gilded 5th Class - Cross (width 38-39 mm) with White enamel and red ribbon as 4th Class but not rosette - Cross is Silver not gilded 6th Class - (width 38-39 mm) Cross is entirely made of Silver - No Enamel The label indicates that the awarded person is an Italian, which is quite understandable since King Boris III has as a wife the daughter of Italian King Victor Emanuel. We can assume that many high ranking persons could have been awarded the highest Bulgarian Orders and Decorations I hope this will make it a little bit more clear for you BTW Very nice Set

Hi RUIZ, For the Bulgarian Orders it will be very difficult, because they are not very well researched as many other decorations from Europe For example the German Iron Cross could be identified without the Maker Mark, simply because it is one of the most researched Decorations and there are many books and experts in the field. Regarding the Bulgarian Orders the only thing that could be identified is the country of the Maker and in very rare cases the Maker himself, simply by the typical way of making and by typical parts used for making the Decorations The most difficult period is the Republican one, because many private Bulgarian Makers were involved into the making of the Bulgarian Orders and Decorations I hope this will be of some help

Here is a little beauty in a very nice box from Second Empire Interesting fact - The Box is from Kretly, however the button on the back is marked V.L. - Victor Lemoine ?

Here is a French made Officer Class with the "boar head" French mark for Silver The box is for the 5th Class, however that the way the Order came, however it is typical French original box Notice the typical for the French orders letter "F" on the reverse medallion ..and in my opinion the front central red enamel is different from the enamel of the Austrian made Orders, however this is only my opinion

At last I managed to get the 3rd Class 1st Grade of the 1915 Model to make a pair. This is the rarer 1915/1916 1st Grade and the 2nd Grade is with so call thick crown mode (the cross is also thicker comparing to the standard cross from this class) -also rare bird Graf

Hi Vazov, Here is the requested Order I included more pictures from a friend collector -the ones with the blue background I usually have mine on black background - because i believe makes the details more clear choose files... Click to choose files Notice the swords- they are bent. I was told that some owners did this to make the Award more dramatic I am not sure about that however I did not try to correct for the risk to break them Both Orders are with the notched edges on the arms and with free standing swords

Hi, Those crosses are really Silver gold gilded/ Godet made much less numbers of Bulgarian Orders then Zimmermann.Interesting fact about Godet is that he not always follow the strict design of the Bulgarian Orders Here are couple of Zimmermann made St Alexander Crosses Both , like yours, are marked Silber Here is also unmarked Godet made GC Star - notice that he used swords from a German Order, which he used to make as well

I agree with all of the above. I suspect the enamel is "new soft type' one The pin attachment system is typical of the many WW2 Fakes of the 1st Class Iron Cross Vazov, do not forget that this is a very high class and also very rare one. One can expect a very high quality for them, because they were not made in big numbers.

I agree with New World. Ask the dealers to show you the side of the crosses. I would not buy if it converted and story made for it Well done Vazov It is interesting Order with many Models and variations. The one with the lilies is not as rare as the one you got even in bad condition If you like it like that is fine many. Some collectors like you like the way the awards are, other chase the close to mint condition, which may never happened, however they still hope to get them. Here is the 4th Class 1st Grade of the Order without swords

Hi Ruiz, Yes, you are right It is a nice Commander -German Made in rare Silver variation -Boris III Emission.. Most of them were made from gilded bronze I cannot see any ribbon loop ??!! I can see part of a ribbon.Very rare i have seen maker marks on the German made ones.Most of them were made by C.F. Zimmermann , Pforzheim The French made one had the French mark for silver -"boar head" and the Austrian had the Austrian silver marks "dog head with AA" and usually with the makers mark Here is a nice Austrian made Commander by Rothe

Hi New World, Yes, you are right only the 3rd Class 1st Grade Star is fake -It has Diamonds added to it to look Luxury Model. It means that a Good Order was butchered for sinister purpose

I just found in my files one of the Viktor/Karissa Masterpieces

Hi Igor, That what i suggested that your Order is an early Rothe. It is suggested that the very early orders were not made only by the Russian Makers , but few pieces made by Rothe do exist.and they are not mentioned in the books by the Bulgarian authors Graf

Hi Igor I saw this one on ebay not long ago. I have seen similar once more. This one has features of the princely 1st St Petersburg emission {the cross form the obverse medallion and the loop on top} and early Rothe King ferdinand model (the swords and the reverse medallion It is interesting piece It is like what the French called "Hybrid' that is why New World could not find it in the books with the standard decorations Here are some pictures of my early 1881-86 model It is the 2nd St Petersburg Emission with very big letters on the obverse the medallion which is not flat the reverse medallion is flat like the first St. Petersburg Emission Also pictures of orders like yours but is the 1st St. Petersburg Emission (see the swords shape and the reverse medallion} and like mine (part of an exclusive medal bar} They are not mine just for information

Hi It is real piece of art I agree. The reason i suggested the Diamond cut version against the Model with Diamonds is simply that King Boris III was much more modest man then his father and more likely is to have the first one I might be wrong Perhaps this is the Star which was given to him by King Ferdinand with the Diamonds Hi 922F if you asked me about the 1936 date of introduction of the Diamond Cut GC Boris III Model, to be honest I do know.

Hi Alex, It look more like diamond cut Star then one with Dimonds The similar diamond cut Stars are the grand Crosses Stars of the Boris emission of the Order for Military Merit and the Order for Civil Merit That is more likely because the Maker used the same body of the Star as for this Orders

DEAR MEMEBERS, RECENTLY THERE WAS A SPECIAL SERVICE FOR 73 YEARS SINCE THE DEATH OF KING BORIS III IT WAS HELD ON 28TH OF AUGUST IN THE RILA MONASTERY WHERE IS HIS GRAVE i WAS LUCKY TO BE THERE BY CHANCE AS PART OF MY TOUR IN THE BALKANS KING SIMEON AND HIS WIFE WERE THERE RILA MONASTERY IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES I HAVE EVER BEEN. I WAS ENABLE TO TAKE PICTURES INSIDE THE CHURCH, HOWEVER A FRIEND BULGARIAN SEND ME A COPY OF MAGAZINE PUBLISHED BY THE BULGARIAN COMMUNITY IN CHICAGO i ASSUME SOMEONE HAD A PERMISSION TO TAKE PICTURES FROM THE GRAVE OF KING BORIS III GRAF

Hi Igor Thank you. I missed few, because of bad timing....and a little bit of hesitation...and perhaps the other bidders wanted the item much more than i did at the time. I am still chasing more variations, We do not know how many have been made, because apart from the well known Models many badges were made that did not follow any strict rules. And that is the beauty of collecting them. Graf

Here is review of my Red Cross Badges collection - Variations of some of the Models -1915 Red Cross - Mini - rare King Ferdinand badge -shown earlier i am still chasing more ..and i will update you Graf

More Red Cross Badges Graf