Imperial German Medal and Order Ribbons

[Guest kaiserzeit]

G'day Everyone!

I have been able to locate a manufacturer who will make silk ribbons for me in the old style, all widths from 1 cm. to 10 cm.

My question for you is which ribbons would you like to see first?

Perish the thought I should state the obvious but I am going to do trial runs of 1813, 1870 and 1918 Iron Cross Second Class, all three types.

Please give me your input and I will do my best to broaden my offering to the collecting community.

Thank you in advance for your input.

Kind regards,

Laurie Thomson

[Guest Rick Research]

Actually, I can't imagine any good reason to make what would in reality be fake ribbons.

Replacement ribbons in modern synthetic materials are... obviously modern replacement ribbons for display. Nobody is ever going to think they are original. That seems like a good thing to me.

As display ribbons for awards missing original ribbons, there is nothing wrong with new synthetics.

As a purist, I don't see the POINT in going to the expense of scratch manufacturing REAL silk FAKE ribbons. A minty fresh modern-made silk ribbon on an aged 1813 is not going to "look" any less obviously not original than one made out of original materials with glaringly apparent condition difference.

And I would rather imagine that even with real silk, modern DYES are still going to result in precisely the same blacklight issues as synthetics have.

[JBFloyd]

I tend to agree with Rick.

I had four designs of Bulgarian ribbon made a few years ago (Military Merit, Civil Merit, St Alexander and Bravery). It was a costly and not particularly pleasant experience. At the end of the day, I used some to reribbon some medals, kept some for future use and gave the rest to the OMSA Ribbon bank.

While the quality was excellent (silk ribbon, proper size, excellent color matching, etc.), they were still new-made ribbons. Had anything else been available, I would not have sunk the money into the project. I don't think there are that many Imperial German ribbons that are not found in one form or another.

[Guest kaiserzeit]

Hello,

Thank you for your sobering, if forthright input. Having collected British medals for a long time, I always appreciated the services that Seaby's and Sotheby' s provided (I am dating myself) in providing high quality ribbon replacements.

It seems that the Imperial German collecting fraternity feels otherwise.

Thank you for saving me some time and trouble.

Kind regards,

Laurie Thomson

[Guest Rick Research]

And some money too, I hope. Maybe not the response you hoped for, but better before sinking in what has got to be a considerable outlay of cash than too-late afterwards.

[Guest kaiserzeit]

Gentlemen,

After further cogitation and input from other quarters, it occurred to me that I can forestall any problems relating to the onsale of pieces with my new old-style ribbon by marking any ribbon I sell with UV dye. An imperfect solution at best, but providing a reasonable degree of protection to future buyers.

The question still remains, though, as to what the market will bear for these ribbons.

Any further thoughts?

Cheers,

Laurie