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Brilliant decorations of a highly distinguished officer and gentleman, I know! Thank you for sharing your award bar and wishing for an addition or three even before 2026...

Sincere thanks Herman!!!

Hello Herman, Thank you for this news! When did the removable years of service numbers for long service crosses begin to be used? Peter Mulder once told me that was around 1910 or after 1915-17 or so. This was to make manufacture easier and possibly enable officers to update their cross without having to remove it from their bar. I would like to know if that's accurate.. Best regards, EJ

Thank you Herman! I could see just the XV on Hootegem's long service cross; rest obscured by his Oorlogsherinneringskruis. Suspected it might be 35 years but not certain.

Wonderful group, Congratulations! Hootegem had the 25 year long service cross [?] and received the short-lived French Order of Civil Merit [1957-63] officer class; do you know the circumstances for the last?

Sorry I was unclear. I got the information about "ROSEN" of Sofia making blue cases from a very senior Bulgarian collector in 1992. The cases themselves look to be otherwise typical [title stamping, interior pad, hinge, and so on] for Boris period.

Thank you Graf! Have you an idea of significance of blue box? I have only 2 and was told they were manufactured by "ROSEN' of Sofia sometime in 1992 by a major Bulgarian collector/researcher I mentioned before but can't remember his name or exact address. Any thoughts? Never heard of "ROSEN" before.

Excellent!!

Thank you Megan!

Keeping topic alive

Appear to be hallmarks on ring that may indicate manufacturer and metal content. Could you enlarge them?

Fascinating!! Thanks to you all!

In my experience, this type insignia first appeared in the early-mid 1960's notably in Graf Klenau auction catalogs. Supposedly commissioned by Ernst Blass, they apparently were made using Grannero [supplier to firms like Gardino & Johnson] dies so metal work is close to originals. However, finish & details suffer. Note poor quality enamel, lack of ball suspension between eagle heads, failure to cut out excess metal in loveknots/FERT wreath. and sloppy reverse disc attachment among other 'tells'. Two or three examples of this type were supposedly made in silver but the bulk are metal. This item displays decent gold plating and includes blue color applied in the eagle eyes so is a relatively early one [1964-67?]. Pieces of even lower quality appear on the market. An argument has been made that all 'genuine period' Italian-made Italo-Albanian Order insignia should have Italian silver/gold fineness/maker marks according to regulations in effect at the period. Similar quality BESA Order insignia exist, usually attributed to the same person.

Thank you both for your fascinating information! Have been traveling and just saw your replies. Will try Seaforth's Museum.