Variation of the Order of the Star

[Carol I]

Could you please give some details about this type of badges of the Order of the Star, type I? They seem to have poorer details and a thin/hollow crown.

Who manufactured them? In approximately what period were they manufactured? Thank you.



This particular badge is said to have an Austrian hallmark on the suspension ring.

[Carol I]

Badge without swords:

[Carol I]

Badge in officer grade:

[Carol I]

Another badge in officer grade:

[Carol I]

This version of badges also seem to appear in order bars:

Originally posted by REGAL UNIFORMA COLECTOR

[Carol I]

Originally posted by REGAL UNIFORMA COLECTOR

[Carol I]

Originally posted by Dénes

[Cuza]

QUOTE

Could you please give some details about this type of badges of the Order of the Star, type I? They seem to have poorer details and a thin/hollow crown. Who manufactured them? In approximately what period were they manufactured? Thank you. This particular badge is said to have an Austrian hallmark on the suspension ring.

What is the hallmark?

[Carol I]

QUOTE

What is the hallmark?

Unfortunately I do not know as none of these badges is in my possession. I only mentioned what was said in the description of that particular badge.

[Carol I]

I brought these badges to your attention because I am puzzled by their appearance. Their poor details hint at a clumsy (war?) manufacture. The presence of one of these badges in the last order bar along German and Austrian orders seems to suggest a pre-WWI period. But then they were usually made by jewellers and therefore they had quite good quality. Does this mean that they were made after WWI? But who manufactured them and why in this rather poor quality?

Another hypothesis is that they could just be privately made copies. But there seems to be quite a few of them with similar characteristics, thus suggesting a rather large production.

[Dénes]

Here is another, high quality scan of the same order (from eBay):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...2262753738&rd=1

Col. Dénes

[Carol I]

QUOTE

Thanks Dénes for the image, but unfortunately the variant you have posted is not the one I was referring to.
'Yours' is a very nice example of a post-WWI badge: thin arms of the blue cross, straight outline of the rays between the arms, very nice details of the crown (see for example the orb above the crown) and remnants of crossed swords between the arms of the cross.
In contrast, the one I was referring to has thicker arms of the cross, an arched outline of the rays between the arms, poorer details of the crown and no remnants of swords between the arms.

[dragos03]

When the Order of the Star was created, there wasn't enough time to manufacture the awards. The first 2 knight class Orders of the Star were awarded just 3 days later and the first Grand crosses only 12 days later.
So, they had to use the "Union" orders (Ordinul Unirii), made by Alexandru Ioan Cuza but unofficially issued, who were in a box at the palace. The central piece with Cuza's cipher were replaced with new ones with Carol's cipher.
Maybe these first orders are the poor manufactured ones and maybe they were made in Austria.

[Victor]

The Order of the Union was manufactured in Paris at the House of Awards and Decoration Krety.

[Carol I]

QUOTE

When the Order of the Star was created, there wasn't enough time to manufacture the awards. The first 2 knight class Orders of the Star were awarded just 3 days later and the first Grand crosses only 12 days later.

This is quite interesting. Do you have a source for this piece of information?