Hi,

First post here! I have a few repro honor rings I bought from Evgeniy, which are blank on the inside. I am thinking about getting some of them inscribed as a real ring would be.

Can anyone please advise me on getting accurate inscriptions for these rings? Specifically, the font style, method for inscription, and real names and dates for early and late style rings.

Any help is appreciated!

Why would you want to do that? They are repro and always will be repro so trying to get them to appear as accurate copies would appear tobe deceptive.

Evgeniys rings, while good copies, can still be told from originals, so getting one of those copies confused with an original is not likely.

As for the original post: The original rings would be hand engraved and inscribed as follows: "S.Lb. *last name* *date* H. Himmler". For example, I will post a picture of the inscription of my ring named to Standartenfuhrer Walter Jurk, a famous officer in the Czech Protectorate. His ring is inscribed "S.Lb. Jurk 30.6.34 H. Himmler". If you want an in depth and exact method of how the rings were engraved and with what tools, I highly recommend Antonio Scapini's new book about the Totenkopfring. He has a whole chapter dedicated to it.

I agree but down the road/years rings are sold,resold worn will eventually make it back to the market. It is unfortunate to think this way, but in todays worlds care needs to exercised.

Purely for collecting/investment purposes. I figure if I do ever want to resell them, they will sell better with inscriptions. I do not aim to pass them off as the real thing.


Thanks for the info! That's what I was thinking regarding Evgeniy's rings.

I'll look up that book after replying. What I understand for the basic inscription process is:

1. Metal band formed into a ring

2. Inscription added

3. Ring interior blackened

4. Ring interior polished leaving the finished (blackened) inscription

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Perhaps Evgeniy can chime in.


That's a fair argument. The counter argument is that you could sell the ring honestly, but the person who bought it would add an inscription anyway and try to sell it as the real thing. The only real defense is morality and good knowledge of honor rings.

I agree. Fortunately, we have some very good folks here that can spot what needs to be looked at for assessments.

I hope to get input of from some of these people! I have put together a rough list of names and dates of real rings, sourced mainly from these two sites:

https://www.totenkopfring.eu/

http://oakleafmilitaria.com/

These two sites have great pictures of inscribed names and dates, which will be very useful obviously. The list:

Early rings:

- Dietrich 24.XII.33
- Grams 30.1.36
- Schwarz 24.XII.3
- Ullrich 20.4.36
- Wolff 24.XII.33

Later rings:

- Artner 21.6.44
- Emmerich 21.6.44
- Gies 21.6.44
- Kaiser 9.11.41
- Wagner 21.6.44

I tried to go for 'cool' sounding and famous names. If anyone has any suggestions for other cool and/or famous names, I'll be glad to hear them.

Some more famous names on rings that I have seen:

Josef Grohmann, SS Dirlewanger Brigade officer

Hans Rexeissen, SS Einsatzgruppe officer and adjutant of Paul Blobel

Hans Graalfs, Einsatzgruppe officer and CIA spy (post war)

Werner Best, SS General

Of course Tankers amazing ring to Wilhelm Bittrich

how about using Otto Skorzeny!!

Thanks! I went ahead and added Bittrich to the list because I could get pictures of the name and date engraving. Do you know where I might find pictures of the names and dates for the rest?


I looked through his Wikipedia article. An interesting guy! So he had an honor ring? My main objective is to get the accurate inscriptions and dates matched to correct ring types (early or late).

I am considering getting names and dates inscribed of rings that did exist, but were never found. I would like to make educated guesses about the them regarding the details if I'm going to do that. Kind of like this fictional Heydrich ring (picture from Evgeniy's site). On this subject, I really would like to know what was inscribed on Himmler's personal honor ring!

Photos of Grohmann ring should be on Totenkopfring.eu site

Here is Rexeisen ring: https://p38guns.com/SSRing.htm

Graalfs: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/119951455_wwii-german-ss-totenkopf-himmler-honor-ring-w-coa

Here is Werner Best ring, courtesy of WAF

ABTmRW

I would prefer and appreciate it if you did not use or associate Bittrich with your rings or project. Thank you

Thanks, very much appreciated! I plan on posting pictures when all is said and done.


Why? Wilhelm Bittrich is gone. For all you know, dozens of people could have already used his name on reproductions and not told you about it.

Of course Hedrich was awarded SSHR not in 42, this is was order of my client
IMO think he was among the first to get the ring

ABTmRw
I am not sure of your motive with getting rings and having them accurately engraved. Sure, they won't stand the scrutiny of real rings but as I said as years go by, things try to get passed off as originals.
As far as my ring, this was the first place it was ever shown.
I can't force you not to use the name, but I would like for you to respect my wishes.

Thanks for the info Evgeniy! Any guesses about what date might have been in his ring?

Since Tanker doesn't want me to use 'Bittrich', Heydrich seems like an excellent substitute.


I do not think I will ever sell Evgeniy's repros. Personally, I think they are better than the real thing in some cases. This is for my own collection. At the of the day, it's just a name. I think I will go with Heydrich instead.

Thank you.

No problem. Perhaps you can get a repro 'Bittrich' ring from Evgeniy! You know, show us some comparison shots.

Thank you but I don't need a repro. The original is fine for me and I don't collect anymore.

Heydrich was awarded his ring in the first batch dated "24.XII.33". It was awarded during the Christmas celebrations of '33.

Suit yourself. I think you're missing out on wearing a perfect copy of the ring you own. I wear one almost everyday.


Thank you once again sir! In that case, I'm definitely getting a Heydrich.

ABTmRw.... Tanker doesn't want you to use the name because he owns the authentic Bittrich ring...
- [Aahh I see you realize it]. Yeah wearing a good copy ring you own might be cool. But some won't think so..

I'd say I don't think anyone who owns the original would want you to reproduce the name from their ring...

You'd be better off using a infamous [or any name on SS list] name,,,,check out when they got the ring and you can put date and name in it.. . , G.

I see where they are coming from. At the same time this behavior seems almost juvenile:

"It's my ring and nobody else can have the same name on their ring! If someone else has the same name on their ring, then my ring is not special anymore!"

Like I said, plenty of people could have repros with authentic names and dates without anybody really knowing, so trying to dissuade such behavior is ultimately futile. I'm on here letting people know what my intentions are, and I plan on posting pictures so people can see. For goodness sake, a couple of my repros from Evgeniy even have gems in the eyes.

There's countless of reproductions for historical items out there: The Mona Lisa, The SS Dagger, etc. Treating the honor ring like some sort of sacred item is foolish. At the end of the day it's just a piece of silver with some cool markings on it.

Furthermore, I wanted to clarify something:

I'm not trying to get a 100% exact replica of the inscriptions. When I ordered these rings from Evgeniy, I wasn't sure If I wanted inscriptions. If I was ordering his repros with my current mindset, I would go with his inscription service. His inscriptions might not be 'perfect', but they are good enough for my purposes.

Personally I do not like repros. The only interest in these rings to me is the historical value behind each artifact. The history behind the name whose finger this ring was around. I see no value in repros, but this is just my opinion.

No problem with that. In fact, I agree regarding the history. By putting names and dates on the rings, the rings become a conversation topic about certain individuals. Hence, the desire to go with well-known names.