Thread: Need help

During the 1960's I was given these by my wife's uncle, who told me that he received them when he was in the German Navy...during the late 1930's-40's, he lived near Bremerhaven....can anyone identify them? Thanks

Are there any stamps or makers marks seen?
I'm not sure, but i think that there's never been any official Navy cufflinks, but rather sort of a souvenirs etc. I do not know how was in Germany back then.

I re-examined them with a 20X loupe and could find no markings.....Bremerhaven Germany was a big navel base, and in the 60's there were still many submarine docks there.....Bremerhaven still is a very large shipping facility. I am no longer able to ask my wife or her uncle about the links...there looks like a marking on the one link, but its just camera a reflection.

What it comes to military clothing, some things are 'official' and some others aren't. Finnish army and navy have followed Germans with our dressings, specially on that era. There were never official cufflinks, as far as i know.

It is possible, as an example, that a naval base or school, has just ordered some cufflinks and other stuff like rings from some local goldsmith to sell. Either to those who in service or to the public too. You can still buy such items as navy or army mugs etc. That is just my guess. Finding a makers mark would help a lot.

I believe that he was an officer, and if I remember correctly he was on-board a submarine during WWII.....Navy Officers did have quite a nice uniform during the 30-40's....

Thanks for the information.

I can say with a fair degree of confidence that those are cufflinks.

I hope this helps.

Clockguy,

Those are beautiful cufflinks.

I am not a specialist in German history, so what follows is highly speculative.

Since there are no markings on them, I would suspect that they were not "official," but were perhaps either produced or acquired from a manufacturer by a local jewler in or near Bremerhaven as a salable item to German naval officers. I think there was a lot of pride among the German people in their navy during the interwar years--even though it could not be openly expressed because of the Versailles Treaty--and one way to communicate that pride would be the creation of special items, such as jewelry, that could be purchased by naval personnel--cuff links, tie clasps, watches, etc. Cuff links like you show would have been a perfect addition to a German naval officer's dress uniform. Just my 2 cents.

I have a colleague at work who specializes in German history. I'll ask him about your question as well.

I am currently at Naval Postgraduate School and have a German Naval Officer in my class. I asked him to take a look at these and see if he could tell me anything about them.

He said that in the German Navy cuff links are not a regulated uniform item, and never have been. He said that all that is required is that they be gold.

He said that they were probably purchased somewhere on the local economy and may have been worn with the uniform, but maybe not have been. He said that there are no regulations on the cuff links once again, and said that it could have been something that all the officers on the ship decided to get like a class ring or a unit patch.

I know this doesn't help much, but they might make a great item to take to the antique road show.

Thanks very much - appreciate your help.....they are quite interesting, and would make a great item to take to the antique road show.

Originally Posted by icedog

I can say with a fair degree of confidence that those are cufflinks.

I hope this helps.

I second that.