I was once told that only two manufacturers gilded the swastika
at the factory on 2nd model Luftwaffe daggers; Eichorn and SMF.

Any truth to this??

While Eickhorn and SMF are commonly found gilded, I have seen WKC, Alcoso, and Weyersberg 2nd Lufts with gilded swastikas. I think it is more a case of some makers using a light gilding that didn't stand up to wear. Wittmann's book also discusses this effect, referring to traces of gilding found on the swastikas of several makers.

Unfortunately, some of the remaining gilding on the swas darkens and almost looks like dirt, so may have been cleaned off over the years by unknowing owners.

John

I have a Frideeicus 2nd model with near 100% gilting. The others are devoid of gilt.

In the early days of the forum a couple guys were posting pics up inside the pommel and showing gilt on some pieces that remained inside the pommel. Who it was and makers I forget.
Bret Van Sant

Hi,
I have two 2nd patterns one by Tiger with Eickhorn fittings and one by WKC and when looking through my high power magnifier I can see some gilt still remaining on the sides of the swastikas but totally worn off the faces.
Regards, Andy.

There are obviously several kinds (methods?) how firms did gold plate their 2nd luft pommels. Eg, SMF did use a very bright, thick gold color (can be compared to now available gold laquer) which also does hold the brightness. HOELLER (another firm which did gold plate pommel swaz s) for example did use a more thin gilding which tends to darken (perhaps the kind JohnZ did describe). EICKHORN did use gilding which does look kind of orange. The case is even more complicated because the firms which did gold plate 2nd luft pommels did not plate all of their 2nd lufts.
But concerning the question of Texasuberalles, as Vern did already state and others did add, there are more firms with gilded pommel swaz s than the two mentioned in the first post.
Regards,

Hello, is it possible to tell if the gold has been applied post war, perhaps with gold leaf.

Hello, I have heard that acetone does dissolve falsely applied gold color (laquer). So I think it also would dissolve the glue of gold leaf?
But the gilding of the swaz was not done with real gold (gold leaf; which is recognizable by an experienced person) at the period so this alone would be a red flag.
Regards,

Gold leaf is the metal itself made into very, very, very, thin foil that should be impervious to ordinary solvents. Whereas the ?gilting? on the pommels seems to have some variables by maker, and how they approached the different base metals used for the fittings. A later period German Army Officer?s saber I had gave me a window into the past because you could see copper plating contrasted with the zinc base metal and the gold over the copper where the different layers of the plating had worn off. The problem for the German dagger makers being that they wanted the gold to contrast with the bulk of the rest of the finish that necessitated a multistep process. Some Luftwaffe swords for example having a so-called ?gilt? Swastika that is actually color anodized aluminum - and my point really being that I look at things on a case by case basis in trying to determine what and how something was done to get the desired result. Best Regards, Fred

Thank you very much Wotan and Fred for answering my question.