EK 1939 Who's the maker of this lovely 57 EKI

[Tony]

I have a 57 EKI here with a strange catch, does anyone know who the maker could be?

Tony

[Tony]

Reverse with catch.

Tony

[Dave B]

That is a nice cross Tony mate,on the maker I haven't a clue..............Gordon is your man for that.

Dave

[Guest Darrell]

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but didnt S&L have exclusive rights to manufacture all the post war EKs?

[Gordon Williamson]

Darell,

No, S&L didn't have any sort of exclusive rights. Several firms made 57 EK pieces, including a number of original wartime makers. The retaining clip on this one isn't one I've seen before. Another mystery.

[Tony]

Thanks for having a look Gordon, I was sort of hoping you'd know it. I wonder who did make it then?

Tony

[Mike K]

Hi Tony,

I agree, looks like a good quality earlier example. I'm sure I've seen that type of catch before, but can't recall exactly where (possibly on a swatika'd repro of some sort, possibly another 57er type).

I don't know who the maker is, but I think Deumer can be safely ruled out as the beading pattern appears different and the beading flaw is typically on the 9 o'clock arm on L/11 marked 57er EK1s. This example has a fairly strong beading flaw on the 12 o'clock arm, so examining later war examples from Third Reich manufacturers may actually uncover the real maker.

Regards

Mike K

[Tony]

Cheers Mike,

Unfortunately I don't have it now. I say unfortunately because since I sold it I've had stacks of people telling me what a quality piece it is.

Tony