21 Kingdom of Prussia: Order of the Black Eagle - Sash Badge in Diamonds.
Gold and enamel, the center and the suspension loop set with old-cut diamonds. On the lower arm of the cross maker and award engraving of the Berlin court jeweler:
J. WAGNER & S. 24.7.97.
This badge represents the last type of the order with the elegantly shaped black enameled eagles between the arms of the cross.
The diamonds of the obverse center set in silver. set with diamonds. The suspension loop set with seven old cut diamonds, worked à jour on the back.
The obverse in near perfect condition. On the back in the center minimal chips due to wear.
The Order of the Black Eagle in diamonds was awarded in very few examples, mostly to foreign monarchs such as the Emperor of China or the various Sultans of the Ottoman Empire but also to important Prussian politicians and military leaders such as the Imperial Chancellor Prince Otto von Bismarck or Grand Admiral von Tirpitz.
From the beginning of the reign of Frederick the Great until 1918 less than 100 decorations in diamonds were issued. In the period of Emperor Wilhelm II, (1888-1918) which is decisive for the badge offered here, about 28 awards were made.
The rarity of the award of Prussian jewelled decorations is also due to the fact that the insignia usually embodied a high material value (e.g. for the Red Eagle Order 1st Class in brilliants a value of 6.000, Reichsmark). The jewelers who were privileged to produce the medals were ordered by the highest authority to pay the amounts to the entitled persons in case of return of the decorations. Since the Prussian monarchs always considered the bestowal of an order in diamonds as an indirect financial benefit (the diamond decorations did not have to be returned after the recipient's death), many recipients made use of the possibility to replace the decorations with real stones by those with simili-brilliants at the manufacturer and to have the equivalent value paid out. Chancellor Otto v. Bismarck, whose decorations with simili-stones are kept in Friedrichsruh Castle in Schleswig-Holstein, made use of this regulation. The decorations of recipients who had left theirinsignia with real stones were often sold by the heirs after their death. In the rarest cases it happened that the stones of the medals were exchanged at the original manufacturers in the way described above. Mostly the decorations were sold to jewelers, who cannibalized the medals and destroyed the settings. Accordingly, very few original decorations with genuine diamonds have survived.
Splendid badge in finest Berlin jeweler quality. One of the very few examples preserved in original condition, the diamonds of very fine quality.
This piece is illustrated and described in Karsten Klingbeil/Andreas Thies, Orden 1700 - 2000, Vol. III, p. 29, No. 1458.
Important piece of great rarity.
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