Ruess Officers Helmet for review

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New member
Hello
I purchased this and I would like your opinions on it. Any assistance would be appreciated
Dave
 

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I vote for modern day reproduction. Here is my reasoning: All fittings are extremely bright, front visor trim too wide, as is the stitched band along the edge of the rear visor. I have never seen these bolt style rosettes for the chin scales. The chin scale backing leather is new and the brass buckle on these scales is much larger than normal. Modern leather is dyed on both sides, 19th C leather is only dyed on one side. I also do not like the colour of the rear visor lining, too red. Originals are more of a red wine colour. The small knob on the male chin scale is not peened as it should be, it Is fastened with small prongs. My opinion only.
 
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I will await a few more responses and then give you the story on this. I am away for a show. Once I am back I will tell you all about this helmet and its origins. A truly incredible story which some of you wont believe
Dave
 
Dave, I compared your helmet to pictures I found online and in my books. The most obvious difference I see is that your Star and the Reuss coat of arms are of the same color. In the online picture (weitze) the coat of arms is more of a brass like color. Then again, a book I have (head dresses of imperial Germany by Paul Sanders it looks more like the same color. Personally, though the picture quality is nice, I don’t like the book. In another book I have it looks more like star and Wappen having different colors. Furthermore, I agree with Brian as in too red, too new and too shiny. Lastly, the crown of the Reuss Wappen doesn’t look right to me. Not enough detail compared with what I see on other pictures. Hope this helps
 
I believe the Wappen maybe a casting. There appears to be casting lines on the inner edge of the wings.
 
awozny1965 said:
The most obvious difference I see is that your Star and the Reuss coat of arms are of the same color. In another book I have it looks more like star and Wappen having different colors.
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Hi AWozny,
The star and Reuss arms must be of the same silver color, on both enlisted and officer helmets. This is the rule. If they are not this is due to ageing, polishing, or faking.L1040315.JPG
 
I do have a question for everybody. I thought that the base metal for brass / gilt chin scales was brass. If I'm wrong in this preconception, I'd like to be set straight.

Cheers!
Ron
 
awozny1965 said:
Thanks. I downloaded your picture for my personal reference.
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Good choice, as that is a textbook issued Reuß.

Bruno if your dog ever eats your helmet and you are stuck with that IR96 Reuß Wappen, let me know. That is one of only a few issued Wappen that has eluded me. If you don’t have a dog I’ll have one delivered.

Ron many officer chinscales and other fittings during the Great War are made of zinc which often fades away over time.

Dave you need to get that Wappen off and look at it, as from the front it is convincing. It almost appears someone used an original shell and replaced all the fittings with replicas. Wappen is 50/50 in my eyes. Immediately any cast parts like the Rosettes and Kokarden are fake. No question.

What if it is not an Imperial Pickelhaube but another country? Perhaps it is a Verein (post war Veterans) helmet? Look at the age crazing to the lacquer on the shell and visors. Very curious.
 
Hi,

It may be a modern assembly with a few original elements( cockades, shell? )and some modern replicas... The spike base has been assembled on the shell in a wrong way, one can see the hole on the right side where the back trim is supposed to go in...To me a good sign of authenticity, even if it is a sign of modern manipulation. Maybe this spike base is also original? The spike is not! Concerning the Wappen, as Tony said, better check the back of it.
I am really curious about the "truly incredible story"! It is also possible that this helmet has been completely disassembled, all elements have been terribly polished and assembled again. This shiny look is discrediting the helmet a lot...

Philippe
;)
 
So the back story is that I purchased this just before the wife passed away(no I am not looking for sympathy on this). I did not really look at it that closely as I was obviously very distracted with other matters. I have purchased from Ken for over 30 years. Did I pay too much during that time? Yes. I only sent one thing back that wasnt right. It would appear that lately he has been selling fakes for some reason but I was not paying attention enough when I purchased this helmet. When I finally had a look at it I realized it wasnt right and showed a few people just to make sure I wasnt dreaming. I wasnt. I sent it back without telling them I was as the store is very busy and I should have but didnt. They received it and said that whats the matter etc. I told them it wasnt right and they said that they would put it back on the website for sale at X price but would not do anything else because it was a consignment item so 30 day inspection period only and no returns after that. I said but its not real. They didnt seem to care about that. I didnt even get to the point of saying that why dont you send me x instead and we will call it square. They flat out refused to do anything about it. I even reminded his business partner that I have been buying off of them for over 30 years but she didnt seem to care. I did say politely that there was going to be blowback on this but it did not matter. I do have all the emails to back up everything I am saying if somebody needs to see them as proof. I will be posting this helmet on social media also so that other people do not get burned as well. So fair warning. Dont buy from Ken Greenfield at Der Rittmeister or as some people like to call him der rippoffmeister. Dont let my error be your problem
Dave
 
KAGGR#1 said:
I have reached out to someone that I know
about this problem .
They were not aware of the problem
I will see if anything new turns up about this problem
Steve
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Hi Steve
Do you mean Ken? He sent me a snotty email via ebay messages inferring that I had buyers remorse(never had that in my life, why start now) and telling me that the original consigner was Jame Turinetti who wrote the soft cover book on pricing guide for headgear of the imperial german army circa 1914.
I guess Ken didnt like being called out. This is not about the money for me. I dont care about that. This is about telling people that this person sells fakes and that everybody should be aware of this
Dave
 
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