UBB.threads Forums Uniform & Accessories The Honor Ring Forum Dakring 1942 without Swastica

On the front above are Gotic capitals , I think it is G_B ? Inside is engraved B_G .
May be there is another letter between them.

I can imagine that the local Arabic craftsman did not copy the capitals correct….….for him it are foreign signs in another language…..For us not all of these capitals are to read easily.
Perhaps the German soldier showed him his own ring with these Gotic capitals on it or he draw them on a paper as an example ?

Nice ring, Benten. We're more used to seeing the famous DAK palm tree and swastika emblem. Maybe, by the end of 1942 (after the German defeat at El Alamein), some members of the DAK didn't want a swastika on their ring. Presumably some of them weren't hardcore Nazis to begin with...

not fond of the 1942 date, rest of the ring appears to be ok.

Stephen, yes,I agree.

As a German, you had to join the Wehrmacht. So perhaps not a Nazi. Instead of the DAK emblem, the conservative choice of Old Gotic capitals . I presume these type rings were already finished aside with engraving and niello. The front was left blank for an engraving on request. And the craftsman could deliver the ring within a short time. He just had to engrave the front . May be: "ready while you are waiting" .

Hello Polop,

Please, could you explain: "not found of the 1942 date"?

all original dak rings have the date 1941, i have never seen an original one with a 42 date, they have all been fake, but who knows there could be real ones with 42 date on them but i'm not a fan. lets see what gaspare says

As Benten says an interesting detail is (what appears to be) niello upon the shanks, sometimes niello was also incorporated into the cartouche design, or upgraded with golden highlights. Agree with his assessment that it’s a ready made campaign blank with a niello set pattern that was ready made for the soldier with personalization. 1941 was the founding of the dak, nothing to do with campaign dates, but yes- 1942 was of course a fighting year and an occupation (at least part of the year) year for the dak in North Africa. I think it’s an interesting piece, my thought is it was a German soldier who had obviously not looked into the crystal ball too deeply as to what would come at the end of 1942 and 43,44 etc. Maybe just wanted it made with the date he was there, as campaign pieces tend to be. We know the official patterned and sold dak rings in catalogs had a classic design but of course a traditional dak 41 date with swas and often palm tree etc.

I agree.

This seems a ring from the souk or bazaar that was dated when sold. Quite a bit rarer than the palm tree ones ?

Not sure, Dave- it’s a good question. Certainly anything personalized is of course one of a kind, but the higher quality craftsmanship of the palm and swas, with 1941 and dak in gold or niello is more desirable/valuable in my book. I’d agree a legit campaign piece (assuming that’s what we are looking at) would be rarer, at least in the making, but that’s just a guess. The quality, materials, higher degree of authenticity, and of course- the swas- make those 1941 rings we all know and appreciate the standard, in my opinion.

not a ring that i would want, i posted a 42 dak ring on here years ago, and it was commdend

as a fake simply because it had the wrong date on it. if we accept this ring as real, then we must consider that there could be iron crosses with a 1938 date on them. just my thoughts

I've searched for your DAK ring 1942 , but I didn't find it. Please, could you post it?

Thanks in advance

[img]http://present from my wife[/img]

Thank you for posting this ring.

weird ring Benten.. The band itself is fine and wartime prob even from 41 etc.. The sides are classic design and the 'T content [either 800 or 900] mark although worn looks fine too.

But I just don't get the GB on front [in old english] and then a BG on inside! The 42 is problematic. The no Swastika is fine..

I have a series of photos where they are displaying and selling DAK rings out of what looks like a bombed out storefront. Some the front [cartouche] are blank and would have been embellished/carved/engraved right then when bought...

An interesting ring and worth keeping in the collection in my opinion....

Thanks for your reply G.

The initials are switched one time ; firtst name and last name . Perhaps the owner wanted just a little variation and not two times the same.

You know Benten,,,,the B G on the inside is made with the 'embellishment' tool. Usually used around the cartouche and other places.. Its unique enough to hold on to.. Interesting piece..

Yes indeed, here an example of this wild simple embellishment engraving on the front of the ring.

First pic is from the item ring here above.
Second pic is from a little dak ring front engraving. I posted this ring some time ago.

Both have the same type of handling.

Gaspare, Stephen,
About the engraving techinique, I post here an old Tuareg ring from Africa ( Lybia, Marocco, Algeria).

Often one sees that a straight thin line is cut in one time.
Here the thin outside frontlines and inside marks, made the tool a straight pearled line by a special technique of very little moves.

it all depends on the jeweler working on it. Some of the old timers have tools they made from their younger years [30 yrs old etc.]... During the 3rd reich era you have guys that made their own tools and some that were able to buy them...

One time a jeweler was showing my how he was going to make a line. I thought he was going to take out a graving point. He had a wheel tool!
_ Another time the zig /zag marks we see on the DAK wheels [especially around the cartouche] I saw a saw a stamping tool that had the design and another tool that did the same thing but was a half round wheel that he kind of like rolled part of the design!

Stephen, thanks for the thumb.

Gaspare, thanks for your good information !

May be my ring was! a traditional DAK 1941 ring with palm and swastika.
Later, for a reason, the cartouche filed off partly and changed in what we see now, Gotic Capitals and “DAK 1942”; the cartouche has a small height now.

Most rectangle Dak-rings have a height cartouche.
Perhaps I'm wrong, but I would like to know your opinion about this.

You guys must remember,,the days the nazis pulled out of Africa the next was prayers, a bit of partying, maybe rest and the day after it was back in business.... SO, instead of the gruff nasty nazis they got some polite British and a small smattering of relic hunting Americans... Rats and roaches don't care either. They / we all need to eat,,,,and some want a souvenir to take or send home for themselves OR something to send their sweeties etc.! Again,,remember only the customers have changed....

- * This ring has DAK on it. Could be one of the last pulling out/retreating men.....

I have a series of photos from a street market in Afrika. In them what looks like an abandoned corner store there is a small amount of these DAK rings already made and a small workbench.... A couple nazi DAK soldiers looking at the wares... With many of the rings the top of the cartouche is blank... Very easy for a DAK man to place an order with their initials on it,,or something else. IF they couldn't wait they would pass by the next day to pick up,,IF its nothing too complicated it could probably be done within 20 min or so.. *****[ a couple of these photos a few are posted in one of the DAK ring threads]

I think that is what this ring is.. A nice piece and a bit of a mystery....

Gaspare , thank you for your nice compliment and good info.