Original Item: Only One Available. Now this is an incredibly rare offering we have to bring to the table! This is an intact and complete example of the legendary French “Roold” Aviation Crash Helmet with a gorgeous set of French flight goggles which complement the helmet very well. It has the correct ear pieces on the sides, and even retains the original “Roold” of Paris label! This is the most tremendous Roold helmet we’ve ever seen.

During the late 1900s France was the leader in most things aviation, as witnessed by words such as ‘aileron’, ‘fuselage’, ‘pitot’ etc. In the US the Wright Brothers’ fierce enforcement of their patents had stifled developments; elsewhere things were half hearted and usually pursued by a few private individuals. This meant that the most up-to-date aircraft, equipment and aviation clothing tended to be French in the fledgling ‘Blériot’ years ~1909 to WWI.

In 1910 ‘Roold’, a Paris department store, commissioned the inventor M. F. Gouttes’ design of a moderately complex aviation crash helmet. This led to the famous pre-and early WWI Roold Helmet – ‘Casque pour Aviateurs ROOLD’, or ‘Casque d’Aviateur’. It was adopted by the French military in 1911 and later by several other nations; it was also copied by many companies in several countries.

That the Roold Helmet was indeed based on colonial sun helmets is alluded to in its description in a Roold 1911 information and advertising pamphlet; – ‘The Roold helmet, which is similar in shape to that of a colonial helmet, consists of two overlapping cork and gutta-percha caps, leaving a free space between them’.

The overall condition of the helmet is fantastic with just the right amount of service wear. The leather is very well broken in with the expected cracking in the finish. Some of the leather pieces to the exterior show loss of stitching and appear a bit loose, but this is to be expected for a flight-worn Roold helmet. The sweatband and the insulated lining are worn with some light mold wear, but the sweatband is entirely retained, and the liner even retains the full maker’s label:

PARIS 1911
Roold
Deposé
PARIS

The earpieces are the correct brass windows, and the lower covering is still in fantastic shape with cracking in the finish. The button to secure the helmet is even retained, rare to see! Furthermore, the helmet retains the black inner chinstrap which is always missing from these helmets. 

The included flight goggles are a tremendous example with a lovely red silk-backed leather face cover, with gorgeous mesh cloth eyepiece vents. The face covering shows heavy wear with some tearing and a repaired tear in the center. The strap is retained well, and the goggles look fantastic seated upon the Roold helmet. 

A truly immaculate example of an increasingly scarce helmet, ready for further research and display.