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Philippine Made Belt Buckles


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PhilippineBuckles

The only other dated buckle with a flag is from 1954 but is has the flag of the Philippines which is kind of unique.

1954.jpg

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PhilippineBuckles

@easterneagle87  Thanks for showing the back of the Aviation Electronics Technician buckle.  It has the same triangle cutout on the "tab" seen on all Hong Kong buckles.

 

Here's a 1956 Hong Kong buckle.  Can someone tell me the rating of this sailor?  Looks like a treasure chest to me :-)

Picture2.jpg

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Salvage Sailor

That's the discontinued Fire Control Technician rating mark.  Pretty certain it was changed around 1946-1948 so the 1956 date on the buckle is of interest.  Guess the engraver in Hong Kong didn't get the NAVPERS memo on the insignia change.....

 

FC mark discontinued.jpg

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vforvictory1945

Here's a great one that sold on Stewart's Militaria website, not sure when, but for $50.00.  This one is super cool with the Hula Girl motif!

PHILIPPINES HULA GIRL BUCKLE.jpg

PHILIPPINES HULA GIRL BACK.jpg

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PhilippineBuckles

@Salvage Sailor Thank you for identifying the rating symbol as a Fire Control Technician!  Now I see the radar scope and antenna, but I have to say I would have preferred it to be a treasure chest. 🙂

 

@vforvictory1945 I'm the new owner of the 1946 Hula Girl P.R.Helm buckle.  I bought it about a month ago.  It's one of my favorite buckles.   The engraver used a metal punch on the back of the buckle to push out the metal on the front for the 3D effect.  I wonder if this engraver ever tried to do a mermaid.  I hope one shows up one day.

 

Are the wings in the lower right for an Aircraft Observer?

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vforvictory1945

Here's a pretty cool and unique Philippines bracelet that sold back in 2011 on Ebay but appears to be done by the same PI engraver, or at least with the same style, with those rectangular flowers, as these two 1930's buckles shown below.  I thought it was interesting as its the first time I've seen a Philippines theater made bracelet done that mirrors the early belt buckle engraving style.  This one appears to have engraved cast metal affixed to an aluminum band / bracelet.

PI BRACELT 1.png

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Not a belt buckle but looks Philippine made to me.  A pair of napkin rings from the USS Long Beach CGN-9.  One's from the Wardroom Mess Food Service Officer and the other one Wardroom Mess LTJG-13.  Cool pair.

 

 

IMG_4861.JPG

IMG_4863.JPG

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PhilippineBuckles

Lots of really cool stuff!

@vforvictory1945 -- Nice Ring.

@hink441 -- I love the rocking chair wings.  I wonder if it was for someone retiring or as a joke about someone (perhaps an air crew member) who just sits around with nothing to do)?  Funny either way!  

@mds308 -- The napkin rings definitely look Philippine made.  Pretty cool!

 

Thanks for sharing guys!  I recently picked up the following Harley Davidson buckle (probably from the 1970s)...

Picture2.jpg

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vforvictory1945

Piggybacking on Bill's last post is a shot of eleven PI Harley Davidson belt buckles I've seen while doing online searches.  These are pretty well done for the 1970's variety.  The winged skull and bones cut-outs are especially cool.

hd buckles.jpg

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PhilippineBuckles

Wow that's a lot more HD buckles than I've ever seen!  Great searching!  Here are two more HD buckles you can add to your image collection that i've seen...

Picture2.jpg

Picture4.jpg

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vforvictory1945

Here's a couple of '48 dated PI buckles that some got a great deal on back in July.  I saw these in a completed auction search the other day.

BUCKLE PAIR.png

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easterneagle87

Hit the monthly Sacramento Antique Fair to today and found these gems. While they are not military, these are definitely Philippine made. They are TRAIN themed!

* B & O

* New York Central System

* Chicago and Northwestern System, October 28, 1956

 

They were all being sold by the same lady and couldn't get just one, so I picked up the set of three.

 

They are a lot bigger than the smaller military themed. No markings on the back. 

IMG_3033.jpg

IMG_3037.jpg

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vforvictory1945

Here's a few pictures of the first PI buckle I've found at an antique flea market.  It appears to be early 60's and its got the more generic lagoon scene on it.  It's not really the date range I'm looking for so I threw it up on Ebay.  If any of the forum collectors are into it we could negotiate a transaction off Ebay.

buckle 1.jpg

buckle 2.jpg

buckle 3.jpg

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vforvictory1945

@easterneagle87 - The buckle shown below is the only other train related PI buckle I've seen photos of to date.  This one was dated 1945 on the top and apparently was sold on Ebay years ago.  Its definitely one of the coolest Philippines buckles I've seen to date.

ROCK ISLAND LINE.png

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easterneagle87

Fellow forum member, who has become a kindred spirit when it comes to these buckles, pointed this one out to me.  FUNKY!!! Great subject matter!  

Navy dental Corps Bob Lytle.jpg

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vforvictory1945

I've wanted to share a bit of insight on dating buckles by looking at the backs provided they don't have any dates on the front.  Here's a quick study on 1930's PI buckles.  You basically have the brazed on brass mechanisms, I'm guessing those were the earliest variety, and then it morphed into a more crude hand finished swivel buckle look version that seems to evolve through the years.

1930S - FORT MILLS USN - W.L. MASON.png

1939 - 1941 - FORT MILLS - DOCTOR - RALPH H. KELLER.jpg

1936 US ARMY EAGLE.png

 

In the 40's you have your crude swivel variety and the baseball diamond shape belt keeper that you see in 1944 - 1946 typically.  Lastly is the seldom seen slider variety, the earliest version of which I've seen is dated 1946.

1944 - LEYTE - H.A. MESS.png

1945 - USN EAGLE CREST - MANILA - C.J. ZIMMERMAN.jpg

1945 ERA - UNIQUE BACK - JOE GERNON.png

1946 - USN - BB. BLOMBERG.png

 

The 1950's are characterized by what I call equal swivel to equal belt guide versions.  The swivel and the guide the same distances and basically divide the buckle in the back in equal parts.  Secondly you have your slider variety with the twisted metal to grab into the belt webbing that I've seen mostly on Seabees buckles of the early 50's.  The twisted bar replaces the knurled bar you see in the late 1940's.

EARLY 50'S - SLIDER - SEABEES - DWIGHT G. SWOFFORD.jpg

1953 - MCB 9 - J.D. JONES.png

 

The early 60's has a thicker cast portion characteristic of the 50's and earlier buckles but you'll see that the belt guide portion of the buckle grows longer.  Also the keeper shape changes and has more of a bend and flare out.  The mid to late 60s buckles through the early 70s get thinner and you can see the engraving sometimes punch through a bit to the back of the buckle.

1961 - USN JOHN T. VANCE.png

1967 - 1972 ERA - USCG PAUL E. SCHNIGK.png

1972 - US NAVY - USS PROVIDENCE.png

 

The 80's and 90's back have a more modern webbed beck mechanism that folds over and clamps to the webbed belt.

 

As far as the ovaled buckles are concerned it seems that they are mostly 1970's or 1980's and have the normal bar and post on the back like a majority of modern day belt buckles.

 

Feel free to chime in or correct me but you can use the back of belt knowledge to help date a PI buckle that doesn't have a date on the front.

1980 - INDIAN OCEAN CRUISE.png

1988 - SBSCA.png

1990 USS MIDWAY - SAILOR OF MONTH OCT.png

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Just received this one from an eBay purchase. 
 

This buckle has a sad story though.
 

The USN LT. that wore this buckle was killed in an unexplained ejection from the back-seat of an F-4B Phantom during a supersonic fly-by of the USS F D Roosevelt. His body was never recovered. He had made the previous FDR Vietnam Cruise and probably had this buckle made in the PI. 
 

RIP Lt.

38B1BE53-9EB0-42FF-8CBB-C4F7B4BC3C02.jpeg

C3FB9BBA-2A5B-4A0D-BDC6-04A42AC8934C.jpeg

5F1FE124-9349-483A-B503-8A2C156D1A9F.jpeg

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easterneagle87
1 hour ago, hink441 said:

Just received this one from an eBay purchase. 
 

This buckle has a sad story though.
 

The USN LT. that wore this buckle was killed in an unexplained ejection from the back-seat of an F-4B Phantom during a supersonic fly-by of the USS F D Roosevelt. His body was never recovered. He had made the previous FDR Vietnam Cruise and probably had this buckle made in the PI. 
 

RIP Lt.

38B1BE53-9EB0-42FF-8CBB-C4F7B4BC3C02.jpeg

C3FB9BBA-2A5B-4A0D-BDC6-04A42AC8934C.jpeg

5F1FE124-9349-483A-B503-8A2C156D1A9F.jpeg

 

Good grab. I bid on this one, but decided not to pursue it. I'm glad you have some history on it. Makes it even nicer. Enjoy! 

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