A possible new wing manufacturer identification - Spencer & Co of London

[rathbonemuseum.com]

For a while now I have collected a series of British-made wings with a particular, large, round shoulder pattern. It has all the hallmarks of being British design and manufacture being silver washed brass with a bent hinged pin held by a hollow tube. The retainer is a simple wire C catch. Example of the pilot and service pilot shown below. So far I have found in addition to these an observer, navigator, bombardier and aircrew rate. There are probably more. 

[rathbonemuseum.com]

Then recently I found and purchased what is a twin to the service pilot badge in all respects with the addition of a SPENCER LONDON mark on the back. Additionally the wing is much more brassy with almost no silver applied. The mark is clearly not a later add on. It was part of the stamping. Spencer & Co is a very old firm that primarily made masonic jewels they were a very high end company. In 1947 they were bought and merged into what is today Toye, Kenning & Spencer which still makes masonic jewels but also medals and other heraldry.

 

It's interesting that prior to this purchase, Dave Hoover, whom many of you know, had said he suspected that this pattern was made by Spencer & Co and had some material that corroborated the connection but he can't seem to find the material at the moment. 

 

In the meantime I bring this to the group for your interest and speculation. 

[rathbonemuseum.com]

Here are some examples of Spencer & Co material and images of their current works. Note, since the wing is not made of any precious materials, it lacks the traditional British jewelry marks.

[Manky bandage]

One Spencer wing I've come across recently, personally I have reservations and concerns. I Know for sure I have seen a jump wing with the same Spencer logo that just didn't sit right with me at all. Maybe this one is actually good, its interesting to see others that exist. 

[rathbonemuseum.com]

Same stamp. I must say yours seems to retain more silver-like finish. 

[jeff41st]

Very cool. These are the first examples I have seen with this hallmark. I have a few in this pattern, but unfortunately none have the Spencer hallmark. The aerial gunner appears to be the same pattern, but lacks the shoulder detail.

 

[bschwartz]

It's possible that the air gunner wing is a different pattern from the same manufacturer but it has a couple of distinct differences. Only reason I'm being pedantic here is that the bottom pattern is my favorite pattern of the British made wings. It's characterized by the smooth, bulky shoulders whereas most other British style wings of this type have some detail lines in the shoulder. The other distinct feature is how long the end of the hinge pin is. All the other British manufacturers have shorter lengths of pin at the hinge end. I've found this smooth shoulder pattern in air crew, pilot, gunner, bombardier and flight surgeon so far. I'm sure there are more out there. Now back to Tod's search to see if Spencer made the pattern of wing he posted and, perhaps, this pattern as well.