Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely example of a wartime production production 2nd Model Luftwaffe dagger, complete with an original portepee. It is a fine Solingen-Produced example made by Solinger Metalwaren-Fabrik Stöcker & Co. The celluloid grip of this 2nd Model Luftwaffe Dagger is a lovely amber color, due to the fading of the celluloid material due to age and light exposure. There is just a bit of cracking near the pommel, and we can see some staining and wear on the rest of the grip. Both strands of bullion wrapped twisted wire are fully intact, showing just a bit of wear, and the grip is still tight to the tang, with no wobble we can feel.

The hilt mounts are still in great shape on this dagger, showing a great lightly "antiqued" finish in the recesses. The aluminum pommel is great, showing only light wear, and still has much of the antiquing in the recesses of the embossed design. The gold highlighting is also still present on the swas's on both sides, definitely a rarity. The crossguard is made of Aluminum, which was an "Air Age" material, which was used to make most airplanes. It was considered fitting and desirable for the eagle-shaped guard to be made of this material. The front side is an eagle with a breast and talon area that is vaulted out much more so than the crossguards seen on other types of daggers. This guard shows little wear and has excellent feathering on the eagle. The bird, of course, flies to the left and grasps a mobile swas in his talons. The reverse panel is decorated with small pebbling and still shows the antiquing in the recesses.

The ferrule looks to plated steel, which still retains much of the antiqued finish. Tied around this is an original portepee, which is in very good service used condition, and tied in the Luftwaffe style. There is wear and soiling on the cords, as well as some loss of the bullion on the threading, but there is no exposure of the core threading. There is also some wear on the stem of the end ball. It looks to have been on the dagger for quite some time.

The blade on this example shows a very interesting pattern of light oxidation staining, which leads us to believe that it is nickel or maybe even silver plated, which looks to be common for SMF produced examples. There is no crossgrain evident, and no signs of major wear, just light scattered oxidation. We had considered maybe it was polished bright steel, but that is not really possible. Aside from that, the edge is close to dent free, and the tip is unbent and fully intact. Definitely not a typical example at all, as can be seen by close examination of the blade surface. We do not see any evidence that this was plated post war.

This example was produced by Solinger Metalwaren-Fabrik Stöcker & Co. GmbH, also known as SMF, who were one of the major producers of this knife during WWII. Their "Seated King" over SMF / SOLINGEN trademark is seen on the reverse base of the blade. They were one of the major suppliers of edged weapons to the Luftwaffe during WWII. As the name implies, they were located in Solingen, the legendary "City of Blades" in Western Germany. For more information, please see J. Anthony Carter's fine work GERMAN SWORD AND KNIFE MAKERS. Above the logo is a Weimar Eagle over 5, the standard Luftwaffe proof marking.

This is a very good condition 2nd Model Luftwaffe Dagger by SMF, offered with a very interesting blade and portepee knot, ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 10"
Overall length: 15 1/4”
Crossguard: 3 1/4”