Bond pilot wings???

[Costa]

a question-- I was watching this item on ebay. it was pretty much in a stagnant state until the last few seconds and then it went big. now I know that there were Bond hallmarked sub badges but, AAC pilot wings??? just asking-- how much in badges did Bond manufacture pre war and ww2?? and if this maker is scarce are they faked??? here is the back of the badge that sold.

[jeff41st]

BOND is a rare hallmark. I've only seen it on Pilot wings, but the pros on here will let us know if there are other ratings to be had. Seems reasonable that someone would try to fake them, but I have not heard of fake BOND hallmarks.

 

2 hours ago, Costa said:

it was pretty much in a stagnant state until the last few seconds and then it went big

 

I put my bid in at the last second, but i was several dollars short😕

[Tesla]

Not aware of any fakes, but it's a rare wing and made by Blackington.  I was going to take a shot at it but it went for more than I could afford at the moment.

[B-17Guy]

100% legitimate wing.

Wing is stuck from the first pattern Blackinton die, which was created in the 1920’s.

Blackinton made wings for Pasquale and Bond, marking them as such.

I have one in my collection, my opinion is the Bond examples were probably stuck more like the late 30’s, even though the die was created earlier.

Great honest wing, for a fair price for how rare it is.

 

John

[B-17Guy]

I should add that the die was also used in the second pattern Luxenberg.

 

[Costa]

interesting! I mean there are so many different wings and once in a long while one comes around that is hardly seen or even talked about. a surprise when least expected.

[5thwingmarty]

So in order from most expensive to lease expensive for basically the same wing made by Blackinton?

• Bond
• Pasquale
• Luxenberg
• Blackinton
• unmarked

I am curious what the Pasquale wings were made of as the ones I have seen are marked "silver" not sterling.  Were they coin silver or some other blend?  I have one that appears to have been made for Pasquale but only got the silver stamp.

[B-17Guy]

10 hours ago, 5thwingmarty said:So in order from most expensive to lease expensive for basically the same wing made by Blackinton?

• Bond
• Pasquale
• Luxenberg
• Blackinton
• unmarked

I am curious what the Pasquale wings were made of as the ones I have seen are marked "silver" not sterling.  Were they coin silver or some other blend?  I have one that appears to have been made for Pasquale but only got the silver stamp.

 

Yes and no.

Yes, that is a full list of the variations of the Blackinton Pilot wing badge back marks, except for silver.

Remember, the “Sterling by Blackinton” back mark was not used by Blackinton till after 1930, so those likely are 1920’s.

Also, there is an Instructor wing. Mine is unmarked like the Rolled Gold variation Cliff has on Bob’s site.

Additionally, I too have Blackinton made wings marked “Silver”. It is in the pinned Airship thread. I can’t explain the mark, other than maybe it is a lower grade of silver then sterling.
No, in that the prices are all subject to interest and I wouldn’t try to put an order on them.

All of the above wings will tend to be pricey because they are all scarce.
 

John

 

[pfrost]

I guess I'm just turning into an old man, but I wonder where these dates of manufacture come from? Ive seen lots of biographical Luxenberg and Blackinton-marked wings from WWII vets, but I can't say I've seen anything that would make me say that this pattern could be exactly dated as early as the 1920's.  Pasquale was selling wings at least around 1942, as the gilt flight surgeon and gilt flight nurse wings would imply.  Not sure about Bond, but sometimes I think that the "lore of 1920's Bond" is like the lore of 1920's Noble-made wings--the actual dates aren't that cut and dried.  I guess it boils down to a number of things, when were the dies actually cut, when where the pieces actually struck, when were they bought, etc.  Frankly, once a die is cut, the badges could be made from that die at any time.  My guess is that a die could have started life DECADES before a particular wing was made.  So if a wing is struck in 1943 from a die originally made in 1927, but and sits in a box at the PX until it is sold to a pilot in 1945 -- is that a 1920's wing, a prewar/early war wing, or a late war wing?  Does the fact that in 1942, Bond purchased 500 wings from a 1000 item run by Blackinton (1/2 marked with the Bond trademark, 1/2 marked with the Luxenberg hallmark) really make the BOND wing that much rarer?  Just some thoughts.  I find it even more interesting that the "value" of the same wing can vary so much based on the way that Blackinton marked a wing off the same die.  A BOND marked piece seems to worth more than any other Blackinton marked wing, despite it coming off the same die.  This is where collecting preference comes into play, I guess.  I know collectors who go either way (some want every variation, down to where the different hallmarks were placed) and some who can't care less if the back mark varies on the same pattern wing.  The wings came off the same die, and then were put together and finally hit with a hallmark punch (you can probably see what camp I fall into)--does that really COUNT as rare?  Or not?  Maybe it depends on how many angels were dancing on that hallmark punch... LOL. Of course, I don't have a Bond, Pasquale, Luxenberg or Sterling by Blackinton marked wing, so I can be obnoxious... LOL.  Not like the two unmarked and gilt flight instructor wings I have... which represent the height of collecting ability!

 

 

Cliff has posted some interesting information about Pasquale in other threads.  That is worth looking up.

 

Remember, during the 1920's and 1930's, the number of pilots in the US Army was very small (relatively speaking).  By 1938, even the most "isolationist" American could see that the possibility of war in Europe was growing, but it really wasn't until 1939 when war actually started that the Congress and military started getting serious about increasing man power.  And that really didn't even reach full gear until after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  I would never quibble too much that Bond hallmarked wings are seldomly seen, and very well could have had bought wholesale made badges from Blackinton (in the 20's and 30's) for retail sale (just as Luxenberg and Pasquale did in WWII).  I suspect that Blackinton (if they were making Bond wings in the 1920's and 30's), probably made some with their own hallmark (and some without any hallmark at all).  But nailing that down to a specific time period...  

 

On the other hand, Kenny Co seemed to have made wings only pre-WWII using a very similar pattern.  There are variations between the Kenny Co and Blackinton versions that always made me wonder who was copying who?

 

P

 

 

 

 

[5thwingmarty]

Just to add to Patrick's post, Pasquale was selling wings at least as early as 1919 so who knows when they started offering the ones made by Blackinton.