Chris Boonzaier Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Not often you get a one looker named cross..... Beaten and abused... but named.... tailor made for my Pionier Tunic... http://gmic.co.uk/index.php/topic/64476-rare-name-boeshenz/#entry607564 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arb Posted December 10, 2014 Share Posted December 10, 2014 Chris, While not a medal guy, I think that's a wonderful EK with a nice bit of history behind it. Fine acquisition! Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuka f Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Love them too! Very nice one you have got. Here is mine; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul R Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 What percentage of these have you seen engraved in this manner? I am sure they are super rare, but are they are rare as I am thinking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 That's nice, I find a bashed named cross far more desirable than one that looks like it was afraid to go out on a wet day. Paul, I have two named crosses, they aren't overly difficult to find and I'd guess at fewer than 5% are named but those engraved back in the day are probably harder to find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ÖSTA Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Chris, I wouldn't say your cross is "beaten and abused". I would say it has character!! Nice piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul R Posted December 11, 2014 Share Posted December 11, 2014 Thanks Tony. I agree with OSTA. Your cross is a perfect beauty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Hi, I use "Beaten and abused" as a compliment ;-) I always differentiate between "hard wear" and "Badly stored for 100 years".... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian R Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Very nice crosses. The beaten/replaced pin on yours, Chris, is really great and speaks to an awarded EK that was worn and cherished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VtwinVince Posted December 19, 2014 Share Posted December 19, 2014 Nice one. I really like the 'battered and bruised' stuff. I have a Prussian Crown Order 2nd Class with swords that looks like it was run over by a tank. Maybe it was.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 As our man was in a Pionier Unit in the Argonne for most if not all of the war... i will have this Argonne Pionier song postcard enlarged to A4 size and mount the cross on it.... Here is the Argonnerwald Pionier song.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 This is the card I will have enlarged... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 With English text Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul R Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Interesting to see the footage colorized!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 Here we go.... enlarged to A4... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Liontas Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Neat! I'd never heard about a song specifically for the Argonne. Going to have to download that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn R Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 I do love engraved crosses. I have owned a handful over the years, most of which I think I've posted here. My personal favourite I own, has the inscription (in German of course) reading; "Conceal the longing in your heart with the cross on your breast. Thea." Lovely crosses there gents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gregM Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Nice looking cross Chris. I prefer my crosses to have that "been there-done that" look about them. I still do not have an engraved cross of my own. I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 Nice looking cross Chris. I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short. The last one I had I stupidly sold years ago...... since then I was also a day late and a penny short.... This was an Ebay Buy it now from a non militaria guy..... sorry to say I missed his other item... a cased EK1 for EUR90 !! But this one fit the pocket quite well.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian R Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Great cross, Glenn. I really like crosses with personal inscriptions like yours. It's amazing to see how prevelant the engraving of EKs was in the WWI years relative to how uncommon it was during the Second World War. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn R Posted January 1, 2015 Share Posted January 1, 2015 Thanks Brian. True, I haven't seen very many genuine engraved ww2 crosses. Seems to have been more of a norm in ww1. Perhaps the availability and practice of purchasing a nice silver vaulted piece from a jeweller led to more engraving being done as it may have been something offered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian R Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 True. Perhaps more private purchasing meant more opportunities to employ the services of a jeweler/engraver. I have one engraved WWII EK1 - I will post it in a new thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Boonzaier Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 I think the nostelgia factor has a lot to do with it.... If you look at the Photos, Postcards and Feldpost.... maybe up to the very end there seems to still be a romantic view of the war.... then all the way into the 1930s, a nostelgic view.... I am sure jewellers in the 1920s and 30s were also engraving crosses that friends and family were handing out.... for a guy in uniform, an EK1 was like a Tiara or Necklace for a woman in an evening gown... Who would not have appretiated a nice domed, engraved cross from an od Comrade on his 35th Birthday.... WW2 came to an end... and noone was engraving crosses after 1945.... Also... Silver is a nice engraved gift.... a valuable gift.... WW" crosses were cheaper and utilitarian.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian R Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 Excellent points. Chris. Just thinking about the amount of crosses engraved during the post-1918 period relative to the post-1945 period speaks volumes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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