Rogi

I've been itching to pick up awards from the Aleutian Isands, its a very little known part of history, and it was always fascinating to me http://www.emedals.com/collectors-gallery/world-nations/united-states/second-world-war-campaign-medals/the-wwii-us-awards-of-sgt-milburn-stephens-w01300 It has the Bronze Star and Purple Heart of Sgt. Milburn Stephens, more importantly the Purple Heart was awarded for wounds pertaining to the Aleutian Islands.+ it has many documents including: "Bronze Star, slot broach with full citation and original citation document. Purple Heart with document" I'd like to ask is there any site or way to obtain his picture and or other info. about him and his time serving? When I receive the set I'll post some pics, what do you all think? Regards, Igor

Could be for a St. Sava?

Thank you so much for the reply and clarification I was suspecting as such when I noticed the color of the emedals verison

I'm at a loss for words on this one

Just taking a wild guess, maybe a prototype or something to use for the mold itself.

Do the pilot first, do it

Thank you for the comments, the emedals one is a bit puzzling as to the blue, since they are generally a salmon pink, but I've seen a purple one on a euro auction site and now emedals' one with the blue tone :S very confusing hehehe

I was hoping anyone could answer this, did the Order of Diplomatic Service Merit, 1st Class, ever have a purple neck ribbon? The only type of color I can find for her is pink. just a small p.s. could the neck ribbon have faded or darkened to purple in some way? I know that sometimes mixing an incorect formula color in paints can lead to some really odd colors in later years. Thanks for any help

From a quick glance on it, it looks like a lot of super glue (or some sort of similar glue) was used on the back of the two swords to affix them onto the order. The Crown somewhat appears dented on the left side, and there seems to be too tan looking things that attach the eagle to the rest of the order, which are usually silver gilt and curved.(on the rear picture) There also appears to be two shades of white enamel, one brighter shade on the bottom and a lighter semi-beige tinted shade on the wings (but then again it could just be the lighting used in the shot :S) P.S. Theres also no crown on the eagles, which is usually there on the order. at least I cant see one :S

Just an adition, if you draw a straight line from the center of the enameleded blue on the top and bottom, it should align with the cross in the King Milan monogram (or at least be a little bit off center depending on how hard its had a life). In this case it does not, and it looks very crooked. I would definatley ask for more details from the site owner about that perticuler St Sava. All the info. the better, because its an immense price for that order.

I've been thinking about this one for a while, it says in the description it is a "replacement" issue, unless we have info. about Replacement issues in a book somewhere or someone knows extensive knowledge about it I'd avoid buying it, or ask for more pictures near the icon and Monogram M, if it is a bad job and not professional it should be easy to make out at the attaching joints. I would assume (although could be wrong) that there should be some form of mark to designated it as a replacement, similar with soviet awards with duplicates. If anything is off, I would say the M monogram, it looks crooked.

Please tell me it was, I will pay you 10 bucks for it! hehehe (it should be substantially more, but I'm sure you know that )

I think its a Serbian Royal Guards Badge, Probobly Pre Yugoslavia. It has the same outline as the "Medaile za zásluhy o Knížecí a Kralovský dvůr" or in English "Medal for the Service to the Royal Household" Which was instituted by the King, it also has his monogram in Latin

Wow, I'm more impressed with the Order of the October Revolution medal I hope she was at a fair price too among my top 5 fav. Russian Orders love that enamel More pics of her please! You should post it in the Soviet section of the forum, we'd all go crazy for it hehehe

Are you trying to say that the medal is Bronze Gilt, or would the marking not be applied even in this case?

No worries at all I tried to do as much research as possible before making my purchases on these pieces so it stems from a bit there, I'm pretty hooked on Omega Most modern watches have similar "Super luminova" in them, which have a trace of the older tritium style markings on the bottom section, except highly dulled down so it doesn't emite any harmful effects. Depending on the company they use and apply it in coats of "paint" like material. Any modern watch has very little compared to our older counter parts. The funy thing is, most companies used to (not sure if they do now or not) use the same formula for luminous material just slightly tweaked here ane there, and there is only one major company (or was one major, I stoped tracking the trend in luminous material a while ago) that owns the patents for the luminous material, so everyone from Seiko to Tissot to Tag to Omega have to go through them to get the sample formula for their specific luminous material. It may be because of the modern version of tritium and its effects if not handled correctly. Regardless if it is vintage or not, even modern watches can have amounts of tritium that if they come in contact with skin (ie the crystal breaks and the luminous material on the hands or dial is somehow smeared onto your skin) can harm. Regards, Igor

From what it looks like here, you would need to see the movement to make a approximate estimation of the watch, from the style it looks like mid 30s, probobly 1934 to 1935, I wouldn't say WW2 issue, it may have been engraved later on, but the style doesn't fit WW2. Now the thing with radium is that most radium in older model watches isn't the item that ruins the luminosity. If applied properly in proportion, most of those watches from that time period should still have luminous potential and be highly radioactive (half life of radium is something like 1,700 years or so, I might be off by a couple hundred up or down) it is the zinc sulfide fluorescence that in combination with the radium deteriorates the watch's luminosity. As long as the gaskets are well maintained and still holding the WR (if it had any to begin with) you shouldn't worry about the radioactivity all that much, any competant watch maker can always swap out the material and replace it with the new material that is being used at this period like super luminova which replaced tritium etc, the most tell tale sign that the radioactivity has occured is when the luminous material changes to a brown or greenish hue in the timepiece. Other than the point of origin or sales market of that watch being fake (ie not intended for military use), I don't see much that could be incorrect with that timepiece. Most dealers end up buying a time piece that could derive from a military origin, sometimes it is faked, having the usual military symbols just engraved on the caseback of a civilian designated watch which wasn't used for military purposes, doesn't take much of the forger's skill to initiate. Unless you have an actual original piece its sometimes very hard to tell real from fake. (how do I know these things...I have an unhealthy relationship with watches specifically modern/ vintage omega and pocket watches ) P.S. Any knowledgable dealer would probobly work on a watch that had tritium or radium components, even the older model vintage watches with exceedingly huge amounts of radium almost don't compare to modern tritium in some cases, and its such a small exposure time to replace the dial that most will end up doing it, just a simple dial replacement and depositing the old dial into the radioactive waste container. Dentists play with x-rays all the time and there much more hasardous than a 30s radium dial)

Its a bit much, but if you like that time period I guess it would be worth it, although a tad expensive without the booklet

Somewhat affordable if you've been saving up for something unusual Thank you for sharing it with us

Very cool, fantastic write up, thanks for sharing

Wow imagine the price for a full set and yet a couple years ago they didn't go for nearly as much...

Thank you both for the feedback The only problem now is that I'm hooked It is really amazing how much detail is in the icon, when I used my magnifier, you can see the writing in the scripture that St. Sava is holding, truely magnificant artistry and craftsmanship on this award

I'll definatley do some research for her Just as soon as I switch my current banking provider, havn't really been satisfied with the one were using now Its like Lays chips for research, once your try one, bet you can't research just one hehehe Theres also something like looks like a small circle in one corner of the star, I'll try to post a better picture tomorrow, could this be a mark ?

ohh low ID , I love it, great pick up

Thanks all for the comments I'll trust Aukinator (because you know, we'll all "Be back" for his archival research again and again ) I really love the serial 1649996 and it makes it that much sweeter of a pick up Thank you Auke and Norm for your help and support I'm still riding the high from today