Original Item: Only One Available. This is a lovely lightly used example of a wartime production production 2nd Model Luftwaffe dagger, which has some features we don't usually see on these daggers! 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 caramel orange color, due to the fading of the celluloid material due to age and light exposure. One side is a bit lighter than the other, so that side definitely saw more light exposure. There is just a bit of cracking near the ferrule, and both strands of bullion wrapped wire are fully intact, showing just a bit of wear and staining. 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 "antiqued" finish in the recesses. The aluminum pommel is great, showing only light wear, and still has strong antiquing in the recesses of the embossed design. It also has some great gold highlighting on the swas (hook cross) insignia, which we do not see often at all! 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, still showing much of the original finiish.

The blade on this example looks to be nickel plated, though the plating has definitely flaked off in areas. It is also possible that it is chrome plated. It still looks very nice, however areas where the plating has flaked / peeled away do show a bit of oxidation. 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.

The steel scabbard is in very good condition, dent free and retains much of the original plating. It looks to originally have been zinc plated, which has oxidized and degraded a bit over the years, exposing the underlying steel in a few areas. The hanger bands are aluminum alloy, and are well defined with have hand enhanced oak leaves tipped at a 45 degree angle. They show light wear, common on the softer aluminum alloy, and both rings are present and in great shape. The throat is the wider version seen, secured by a flush mount screws on the narrow sides of the scabbard.

This is a very good condition 2nd Model Luftwaffe Dagger by SMF, offered with a nickel plated blade and lovely scabbard, ready to display!

Specifications:
Blade Length: 10"
Overall length: 15 1/2”
Crossguard: 3 1/4”
Scabbard Length: 11 3/4”