Imperial Russia Gold Pilot's Wings

[Chuck In Oregon]

Here are the pilot's wings I had hoped to bring back with me and that I previously wrote about.

They are a gold variant of the wings shown in Avers-5, page 83, item 23, "Военный лётчик" or military pilot. They are 56 proof gold and they weigh 14.80 grams with the screwback and plate removed. They bear the "Eduard" master's mark. The screwback and plate are silver and the plate also bears the Eduard mark.

Like some other things I own and have written about, this badge is from a member of the Machavariani family in Georgia, in this case one Mikhail Machavariani. They were Georgian royalty -- dukes, mostly -- back in the day. I have several nice things that were once owned by Machavarianis. A few escaped after the civil war, a couple even changing their name and moving to Moscow. That would have been a little too close to the gallows for me.

This Mikhail Machavariani was initially an officer of the 39th Artillery Brigade of the city of Alexandropol. During WW I he became the commander of one of the Aviation Squadrons on the Caucasus front, possibly Squadron #1, but not for sure.

This badge came with his khindjal with a St. Anna-4th Class attached. I'll post it later on.

[Chris S]

Chuck

I know little of these but the Russians were masters of badge making...fantastic piece...with a real bit of history!

Chris

[GeorgeCL]

WOW Chuck,

I just returned from my vacation in Germany..

What a Great piece..

Gold Pilots badges just dont turn up..

First Ive seen anyway.

Didnt find any Imp russian pieces but I'll post my finds when I get caught up with sleep this weekend..

George

[Ramblinfarms]

Thanks for taking the time to share this beautiful badge with us. It is a great learning experience for those of us interested in Imperial Russian Badges, but without the wherewithall to see original examples.

It is a real beauty!

I finally did manage to secure a copy of Werlich and Andolenko's Imperial Russian Breast Badges.

Edited June 15, 2006 by Ramblinfarms

[Chuck In Oregon]

WOW Chuck,

I just returned from my vacation in Germany..

What a Great piece..

Gold Pilots badges just dont turn up..

First Ive seen anyway.

Didnt find any Imp russian pieces but I'll post my finds when I get caught up with sleep this weekend..

George

* * * * *

Hello George

Welcome back. If you didn't get any rest on your vacation, I hope you made up for it by having a great time.

I may have an opportunity to buy a couple more nice things from this family, but it will have to wait for summer, at least ... finances being what they are. If they're still available -- and they tell me they will hold them -- then I'll take the next step in a couple of months. I did just buy a couple other unrelated things this week but I will have to wait for a while to take possession of them.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you brought back.

Chuck

[Chuck In Oregon]

Thanks for taking the time to share this beautiful badge with us. It is a great learning experience for those of us interested in Imperial Russian Badges, but without the wherewithall to see original examples.

It is a real beauty!

I finally did manage to secure a copy of Werlich and Andolenko's Imperial Russian Breast Badges.

* * * * *

Hello RF

You're certainly welcome. I enjoying the sharing and learning part. I hope you've seen some of the fantastic examples that georgecl has posted. I brought some other Imperial pieces back last month and still haven't posted them. I'll try to get around to posting a few this weekend.

As far as reference books, I have been very disappointed that I can't find even the ones that are supposedly available. I ordered two off of eBay in April, shipped "insured first class mail". What I finally got was a window envelope from the USPS with a detached "Media Rate" shipping label addressed to me stamped "Received Without Contents". Giving the seller the benefit of the doubt, he shipped other than advertised, and did it poorly, and I was left with a $52 mailing label. He refused to make it right but PayPal (whom I often criticize for their greedy ways) got me a full refund after making me file a police report. That seemed like a little too much, but as soon as I did I got the refund.

Please don't think that you have to have rarities to share here. Show us what you've got that pleases you. It's enough that you simply enjoy the hobby and share with others. We're all at different places on the collecting spectrum and we're all learning.

FWIW, I'm going to be selling off a lot of Imperial (and Soviet) things that aren't related to my areas of particular interest -- medical, shooting, aviation. I need to fund my own purchases.

Chuck

[Ramblinfarms]

Thanks Chuck. Actually, I posted two badges for comments on the Imperial Russian Forum that I have not had feed back on. One is a 30th Regiment Badge, and the other a Life Guard Currassier Badge. I get the impression that there is not a whole lot out there as far as reliable references, and you have to be mentored by trustworthy and experienced collectors. I did secure a copy of "Imperial Russian Breast Badges" by Andolenko and Werlich from Dmitry Markov. It was expensive, but a necessary tool if I want to collect in this field. I hear that the fakes are as bad in Imperial Badges as in most other areas of collecting, and buyer beware is the rule of the game. I don't think I can rely on the "Twins" for feedback on Imperial Russian, although they have been indispensible to me for my growing knowledge of Imperial German.

I have really enjoyed yours and Georged's posts on this fascinating subject, and I look forward to learning!

Chris Werner

[gor]

I do not know any military pilot badge in gold, only in silver and the silvered bronze. According to the Imperial Statut this badge should be only in silver color. Sorry,but I don't like jeweller work , badge doesn't look similar to standart "Eduard" pilot badge. Is it possible to see close up 56 hallmark ?

[Pete A]

On the subject of reference books..

Being constantly on the lookout for (free) online references, I recently came upon this site, http://www.regiment.ru/Limited/Limited.htm, which among others has Adolenko's 2002 and Sheveleva's 1993 books on Badges of the Imperial Russian army.

Adolenko's book has drawn color pictures, while Sheleva's plates have some actual color photos, but some drawings in color and b/w too. Sheleva also gives some information on weights and dimensions. Both books are in Russian language, but babelfish - even though it sometimes comes up with the usual weird sentences - works quite well, and the rest can be easily figured out.

Not as preferable as the actual book in your bookshelf, but hopefully the link is of some use.

Regards,

Pete

[Ramblinfarms]

Thanks Pete. That is a great lead.