Philippine Made Belt Buckles

[easterneagle87]

Another current ebay listing

[easterneagle87]

Ok, so by now I have picked up a few of these. Ok, more than I’ve realized. Previously a member posted a nice wooden display rack. I’m thinking simpler. Would these slide along a section of belt, so that you could display A line of them? A little over 3 inches  long, standard 32 Inch waist Could accommodate 10 buckles? Put a little rail at the bottom to rest on. Four belts mounted horizontally w/ 10 buckles would become a heavy monster to hang, right? 
 

ok, these are primarily picked up and worn by navy personnel, so what color of belt? Khaki?  , white? Black? Both officers and chiefs wore khaki or tan. Everyone wore white. Has anyone else thought this way? Thoughts? 

[easterneagle87]

Listed as a "Vietnam era" buckle, but clearly shows an F-14 tomcat. So I'm guessing later like the 80's. Maybe it's the guy who worked on Maverick's Tomcat!      

[easterneagle87]

Here's one I found today at the Sacramento Antique Street Fair. There is an issue with it, as it is only the front. The back has been ground off. Probably so it could be re-affixed to another buckle that accepts a regular size belt. It's just speculation on my behalf. So this face has good subject matter, USS Pintado - SSN-672. Reading in Wiki - it has good subject matter as it had two collisions in it's career.  

 

The Sac show has been COVID closed since March. There was plenty of foot traffic and I was glad for a chance to go out and "dig".   

[easterneagle87]

New listing on ebay, Naval Aviator, Ed Bower, VR-21  USN

 

Interesting that it is "sterling".  

[PhilippineBuckles]

Based on the type of buckle and VR-21, my guess is the Ed Bower buckle was engraved in Japan rather than the Philippines.

[vforvictory1945]

That last buckle is super cool, Philippines or not.  My guess is it dates to late 1945 pursuant to the info I was finding online.  

[easterneagle87]

They dropped the price so I picked up this Navy Supply Corps, Ready For The Sea, buckle. Looking at his other auctions, I totally missed the "named" brother; John Baumgarten, SUBASE Pearl Harbor.  Interesting, did they mis-spell "Sub Base" and run it all together?    

[easterneagle87]

So I've been posting pics as buckles appear. But here's a thought I had for consideration. There are lots of Navy buckles (Aircraft, ships, SeaBees, etc.), Coast Guard, a couple of AF ones and few early Army ones, so what about Marines? I saw three of the larger oval style for Marines (USMC CH-46, USMC w/A-6 & a Recon) and a regular style Para buckle posted in this topic. Any other examples? Surely, there were plenty of Marines to go through Subic and other Philippine ports who got buckles.   

[easterneagle87]

I'll post these as well. A couple of real oddities;  Nuclear Agency and Flying Tigers. Both with steep pricing

[easterneagle87]

Could've swore these got posted. A pair of three's; P-3 Orion and and H-3 Sea King 

[PhilippineBuckles]

Rectangular USMC Philippine buckles are rare (1-2%).  I know of 5 undated ones and 4 dated ones.  Here are two examples...   However among the large oval buckles that were popular in the 1970s & 1980s,  USMC buckles are common (ballpark guess around 25%).  I've seen over 30 different USMC oval ones.

[easterneagle87]

Really cool examples!!  These aren't that big , so the detail of the EGA is nice to see. 

[vforvictory1945]

That's a super cool 1945 USMC Philippines buckle posted by Bill.  I haven't seen any early USMC PI buckles myself so that's cool to know they exist in limited quantities.

 

Below are a couple of pics I snapped from a book on USN insignia at an antique mall.  I passed on the book as it only had the two buckles shown below but thought it was great to see Philippines buckles represented.

 

One day it would be great to see a nice Schiffer Publishing coffee table sized book dedicated to Philippines buckles through the years with pages of colors phones, say maybe a 1930's - 1950's volume followed by a 1960's - 1990's volume.  All submit pics of all my buckles for the cause! 🐵

[PhilippineBuckles]

@vforvictory1945 -- Cool buckles Ryan!  I love the 1945 USNAF Aircrew buckle.  This USMF thread is kind of a sneak peak at that table book 🙂

 

@easterneagle87 -- I have a "Subase Pearl Harbor" buckle probably from the same engraver.  A google search confirms that "SUBASE" is pretty common usage alternative to "sub base"

[easterneagle87]

AS long as I find them, I'll keep posting them ! 

 

What carrier was the "last hurrah" in 1985? 

[hink441]

I think that is the USS Okinawa LPH-3.

[easterneagle87]

A couple more as I searched for other sources. 

[Salvage Sailor]

16 minutes ago, easterneagle87 said:

A couple more as I searched for other sources. 

 

 

 

This belt buckle is quite unique.  Made by an Operations Specialist (i.e. Scope Dope) who served on two ships, the USS CAMDEN (AOE-2) and the USS VINCENNES (CG-49).  I've never come across one dedicated to service aboard two ships.

[easterneagle87]

Here's three more, I thought I'd captured more images, but put them in another folder.

 

1. USS Kansas City, AOR-3

2. A fairly early one; Aviation rate, 1955 (??), Philippines, GM Ford

3. Aviation electronics technician, pretty plain and simple. Surely wouldn't draw any unwanted attention. 

[PhilippineBuckles]

The plain Aviation Electronics Technician buckle was made in Hong Kong most likely in the 1960s.  Hong Kong buckles are highly polished, scratch easily, engraved with a "rocking" style, and have a unique back to the buckle.

[easterneagle87]

7 hours ago, PhilippineBuckles said:

The plain Aviation Electronics Technician buckle was made in Hong Kong most likely in the 1960s.  Hong Kong buckles are highly polished, scratch easily, engraved with a "rocking" style, and have a unique back to the buckle.

 

Here is a shot of the Avn Electric back. Not sure how it is different from the others.  

[vforvictory1945]

When I saw these buckles pictured today I was instantly impressed.  I received a link from a guy on Instagram.  None are for sale, I already asked, but the second buckle down with the USA Flag and the Coast Guard buckle below it are quite amazing.

 

Firstly, I've never seen a Philippines buckle before with a US Flag on it.  Further, this one is expertly engraved, and early too, April 1945, so its really cool to see.

 

The other impressive buckle is the 1945 US Coast Guard example.  From pictures I've been able to locate this is the earliest USCG Philippines buckle known to date.  There was one that sold years back on Ebay dated 1945 - 1946 with Manila and Leyte and named Paul T. Henry.  I believe that buckle has already been featured on this thread but if not I'd be happy to post a picture.

 

Anyhow, this brings me to ask if anyone here owns or PI belt buckle with a US Flag engraved on it or another USCG buckle dated 1946 or earlier?

 

Its always cool too new designs and especially if the engraving is top notch and these two buckles that would definitely be the highlight of anyone's collection!

[PhilippineBuckles]

Three great buckles Ryan!  Thanks for sharing.  I've never seen a dated buckle with the American Flag nor a USCG buckle dated 1945.  I've seen two 1946 USCG buckles here's a picture of one of them.

 

[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.