Naval Aviator Gemsco Wings

[GAZOO]

Been going through some UNMARKED Early Navy Aviator Wings and finally figured out
this set NO MAKER MARK is GEMSCO
  Thinking maybe a bit early only because of the Pin/Catch LOOP ??? and before
they had a MAKER MARK ???

So does the Pin Loop look original or for that mater does the WING look Good ????

[Steve Brannan]

I have the same wing and it is one of my favorites. Mine appears to be later than yours based on the pin and fastener. 

[GAZOO]

22 minutes ago, Steve Brannan said:

I have the same wing and it is one of my favorites. Mine appears to be later than yours based on the pin and fastener. 
 

  I was impressed with the detail in the Die Work and thought maybe the die maker signed it at
the inside edge of the left wing looking at it, but after some close up work I dont think so

[rathbonemuseum.com]

I have a few of these Gemsco interwar naval aviator wings. One version is raised relief "GEMSCO ACID TEST" and another is "Gemsco, Sterling, 1/20th 10k". I also have the unmarked version. Yes, very distinctive and well engraved die pattern. 

 

[GAZOO]

4 hours ago, rathbonemuseum.com said:

I have a few of these Gemsco interwar naval aviator wings. One version is raised relief "GEMSCO ACID TEST" and another is "Gemsco, Sterling, 1/20th 10k". I also have the unmarked version. Yes, very distinctive and well engraved die pattern.

the Interesting post above got me thinking WHAT may have been the progression?
 My best guess work says

The ACID TEST Marked wings are the newest version of the interwar wings, Dont think ACID TEST was used
prior to the later part of the 1920's ANYONE have a specific date to when this became a thing

My second observation has to do with the UNMARKED wing
I noticed both the above unmarked wing and mine from post #26 above have a much longer PIN
and looks to have been shortened early. I also suspect the reason for the UNMARKED BACK
and longer pin was to facilitate ENGRAVING (longer pin to allow more room for name ?

SO could it be

First came the UNMARKED open Pin Catch
---- Next came the transition UNMARKED with Ball pin catch
Second came the GEMSCO Marked with Ball Pin catch
Third came the ACID TEST

ANYONE want to add some thoughts, Really just thinking out loud,
so please dont hesitate to correct my train of thought

[Steve Brannan]

Interesting thoughts. I have one marked Rolled Gold. Where do you think this fits in the interwar period?

[cwnorma]

Because many of these terms were not regulated, and some were loosely marketing names (i.e. "Genuine Leather") it is tough to nail this stuff down with any real specificity.  Very roughly speaking WW1 marked a shift in military insignia to a more utilitarian nature.  Precious (gold) and semi precious (silver and bronze) metals were replaced with much cheaper brass, nickel, zinc, et al.  Early gold plating was notoriously poor quality and would easily wear off the base metal with minimal use.

 

Rolled Plate/Rolled Gold/Gold Filled:  Around the end of WW1 US manufacturers began to adopt "rolled plate" for making insignia.  Rolled plate was invented by the French Jeweler Fix and used two relatively thin plates of gold fused and sandwiched to a base metal billet (often silver or bronze but not always).  This method provided a much more durable way of producing less expensive, but rich-looking gold items, but scrap could not be easily re-used due to its multi-metal construction.  Other terms for rolled plate are gold filled or rolled gold.  As is often the case, some manufacturers looked for ways to further reduce costs.  The gold portion of rolled gold billets became thinner and thinner (to the point of being even worse than electroplating in terms of durability) and/or on only one side of the billet.  Content markings came into use to differentiate product quality.  Marks like 1/20th 10K Gold Filled purported to show that no less than a certain percentage of the total weight of the object was actual gold.

 

Acid test:  The acid test mark came in about the same era as jewelers were trying to lessen the costs of rolled plate.  Between the wars, gold electroplating technology improved.  Electroplating gold onto a base metal is comparatively cheaper than rolled plate as there is much less waste in the manufacturing process.  The public still remembered the very poor quality of early gold electroplating from the Pre- and WW1-eras and manufacturers would mark "Acid Test" to show that the plating was thick enough and of a quality able to withstand the acid test for gold content.

 

For all these marketing marks, manufacturers adopted them as they perceived the need as they were much less regulated than precious metal marks.

 

So VERY roughly speaking:  Rolled gold/plate > % gold filled > acid test.

 

Chris

[GAZOO]

  Again I am No expert, only Guessing but I do notice this one has the longer pin, maybe another transition

I suspect the longer pins were first and used up as things changed ??

The first Navy Wings were BB&B and all engraved to each aviator so I suspect this was expected to
be carried on and may explains the blank smooth backs ???

Below is pg 75 of
Naval Aviation in World War I By Adrian O.Van Wyen
Historian, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (AIR)
and the Editors of Naval Aviation News

Contains some interesting facts NOTE the paragraph to the left of the HIGHLIGHTED one
about the FEATHERS Being to fine

Also cant find it now but found ONLY 3500 Navy Aviators at the end of WWI (approx 2400 navy and 900 marine)