Original Item: Only One Available. This aluminum SS buckle (Koppelschloß) is offered in very good condition, with moderate wear from service. The reverse of the buckle is marked (RZM) (ᛋᛋ) (35/36), for Overhoff & Cie. of Lüdenscheid, who was the designer of all the SS buckles, and at the beginning their exclusive manufacturer. Records are not exactly clear, but the SS Officer belt buckle appears to have been introduced in the mid 1930s, after the introduction of the EM/NCO buckles in 1931-1932. This example is in really fantastic condition, and shows little to no wear, just a bit of oxidation along with a wonderful patina on the exterior. The rear has a bit of oxidation around the rim, possibly from the solder used to assemble it long ago.

The buckle itself features a high relief stylized national eagle with outstretched downward curving wings, which is perched on a wreathed "static" swas, as used by the SS. The background of the eagle is slightly pebbled and the top half of the buckle has a simulated rope like border. The bottom half of the buckle has an embossed banner with an embossed Gothic scripted motto Meine Ehre heißt Treue. (My Honor is Loyalty). The reverse of the buckle is a mirror image of the obverse and has a raised circular center piece with crimped edges to hold the buckle catch and crimped retainer for the prong bar and prongs. All components of the buckle are intact and functional, and we have checked it with a magnet, and no part of this buckle is magnetic.

The buckle comes with a very nice 42 inch long black leather officers belt, which is pretty much in excellent unissued condition. There are no markings, and like the belt buckle, very little sign that it was ever issued. The buckles alone command close to $6000 on the open market, so finding one with an original belt is a real treat.

A fantastic example of an exceedingly hard to find early SS Buckle, the only example that we have ever had! With the lovely belt, this would make a great addition to any WWII belt buckle display!

The Allgemeine-SS, (General-SS), was originally formed in May 1923 under the auspices of the SA, Sturm Abteilung, (Storm/Assault Detachment), as the Stosstrupp Adolf AH (Shock Troops), and was redesignated Schutz Staffel, (Protection Squad), in April 1925 with the official acceptance of the name verified on the second anniversary of the failed Munich "Beer-Hall" Putsch on November 9TH 1925. As a subordinate unit to the SA, early SS personnel wore the standard SA style box belt buckle. It is believed that Adolf AH personally designed a new pattern box belt buckle specifically for wear by SS Enlisted Men (EM) and Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO) personnel with the manufacturing patent being originally granted to the Overhoff & Cie. firm in Lüdenscheid.

This new style buckle was adopted for wear by EM/NCO personnel in late 1931 or early 1932. Generally the early buckles were produced in solid nickel/silver until sometime in 1936 when injection-molded aluminum alloys replaced the nickel/silver versions. In 1940 the EM/NCO's belt buckles began to be manufactured in steel replacing the aluminum alloy buckles. The steel buckles were at first zinc coated then painted grey.

The RZM, Reichzeugmeisterei, (National Equipment Quartermaster), was officially founded in June 1934 in Munich by the NSDAP, Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, (National Socialist German Worker's Party), as a Reich Hauptamt, (State Central Office), and was based on the earlier SA Quartermaster's Department. The functions of the RZM were not only to procure and distribute items to Party formations, but also to approve chosen designs and to act as a quality control supervisor to ensure items manufactured for the Party met required specification and were standardized. Starting in late 1934 items manufactured for the SS came under the quality control of the RZM and as a result were to be marked with the RZM/SS approval/acceptance mark. In 1943 the Waffen-SS assumed full control over their uniform item production and no longer fell under the authority of the RZM.