Luftwaffe Ace Josef Priller’s Leather Flight Jacket

[Kermit3D]

Collectible Firearms for Serious Gun Collectors

Rock Island Auction holds over 12 gun auctions per year. We buy & sell collectible firearms for serious gun collectors, including antique firearms & military arms. Click now to start selling your guns & investing in collectables today.

www.rockislandauction.com

Well, personally I have serious doubts that it's really Josef Priller's jacket, but it's still a nice jacket.
If I understand correctly, this claim is based exclusively on a name tag ?

Estimated Price : only $7 500 - $12 000

 

[Enigma1938]

Have seen it already but have my doubts also.
It's just so easy to fake an old leather jacket, just think about the Steve MCQueen B3 that popped up for sale a few times lately:

feeling spendy? (for the McQueen fans)

I bet this one's going to be expensive.

www.vintageleatherjackets.org

I'm just waiting for the cyclist jacket from the famous Erich Hartmann himself....

 

[Smithy]

It's a very nice jacket but I'd want a very, very strong provenance with documented chain of ownership that has a direct line from Pips to the present seller.

Otherwise it's just a nice jacket.

 

[Silver Surfer]

rock island is a pretty reputable outfit, dealing mostly in collectible fire arms. I would imagine that have have a curator on board that gives the thumbs up or down before they bring an article to auction. never the less........

 

[B-Man2]

There’s an old adage in the collecting world …… “Buy the item …. Not the story”
Meaning … if you like the item and you can afford it buy it independently of any story that accompanies the item .

 

[Smithy]

There’s an old adage in the collecting world …… “Buy the item …. Not the story”
Meaning … if you like the item and you can afford it buy it independently of any story that accompanies the item .

The problem here Burt is that the story is adding some significant cash to the sale.

TBH, I think the estimated value is conservative if it actually is a jacket that Pips wore in combat. He's one of the LW's greatest aces. I'm wondering whether that slightly conservative figure that the auction house has put forward is due to slightly shaky provenance.

 

[dinomartino1]

You can see on photos that his jacket had a cloth pilot's patch under the pocket zip, if you blow up the photo of the auction jacket you can the stitch marks, easy to fake them though.

 

[B-Man2]

One thing I always look for in LW jackets are holes in the chest area . Most LW pilots wore their pilots badge and other awards on their jackets . Most of you know that these LW badges had pin attachments that left holes in leather. You can see the photos of them below. It doesn’t matter if this was a back up jacket or an original as each pilot was proud of his awards and displayed them on all of their jackets .

 

[B-Man2]

 

[Pilot]

This jacket is a remake from a well known Ebay seller operating under at least three different ID‘s.
The jacket for sale is totally different from Pips‘ jacket.
Chest zips are not horizontal.
Chest zips attachments are totally different, see the zips on Pips jackets below.
The breast eagle ( a lousy repro IMHO ) has horizontal wings whereas on Pips jacket they are „scalloped“.
On Pips‘ jacket the front closure is via a snap ( same as the pockets).. the closure on the forged jacket is a pebbled NCO (!! ) button.
Just a few funny easy to spot differences.
Also see a few pics below.

 

[Smithy]

I knew you'd know Brice!

 

[Pilot]

I knew you'd know Brice!

Thankyou Tim..
Its a shame and someone ( else not only me ) should contact the auction house…
Another ridiculous“ try to forge…“ is Pips unit marked in the neck…
When taken POW after getting shot down, all are refusing to give their units to their guards…
Pips should have been so dumb and mark his in the neck… how stupid is that!

 

[MauldinFan]

rock island is a pretty reputable outfit, dealing mostly in collectible fire arms. I would imagine that have have a curator on board that gives the thumbs up or down before they bring an article to auction. never the less........

I don't accept anything for sale based just on the rep of the seller. A very well-known seller was trying to sell a well-known was correspondent grouping a few years ago and asked me to authenticate it (there are very few people who know correspondent stuff well and I have enough credits in the media on that subject to be considered an 'expert' on the subject, which I think is about as silly as some of you reading this will think). Anyway, I called them and gave my opinion that while the items appeared original, it all looked put together after the fact to be passed off as something I didn't at all believe was really from the person they claimed it was.
As with this LW jacket, I had period photos of one of the real things they claimed was in the grouping and it didn't compare at all.
Their response in an email was quite insulting. The same people who originally wrote if anyone could confirm the grouping, it was me, but now they heard something they didn't want to hear, I was suddenly ignorant on the subject altogether (even after showing period photos didn't compare to one item in almost any way). After that, I heard from others that the same seller pulled this stuff all the time.
Yet, many people still take their ID'ing of items as gospel.
As B-man, said, the old "buy the item- not the story" adage is a good one.
This is especially so with German stuff as I know for sure people have been making reproductions of German items since before 1945 was over with!

 

[B-Man2]

This jacket is a remake from a well known Ebay seller operating under at least three different ID‘s.
The jacket for sale is totally different from Pips‘ jacket.
Chest zips are not horizontal.
Chest zips attachments are totally different, see the zips on Pips jackets below.
The breast eagle ( a lousy repro IMHO ) has horizontal wings whereas on Pips jacket they are „scalloped“.
On Pips‘ jacket the front closure is via a snap ( same as the pockets).. the closure on the forged jacket is a pebbled NCO (!! ) button.
Just a few funny easy to spot differences.
Also see a few pics below.View attachment 118275View attachment 118277

I knew you'd know Brice!

Brice (Pilot)
Is the one of the most knowledgeable people I know either in this group or in the group of collectors I know from attending military shows, when it comes to things like LW jackets or French cyclist jackets. You might say he’s the John Chapman of those types of jackets.

 

[Smithy]

Brice (Pilot)
Is the one of the most knowledgeable people I know either in this group or in the group of collectors I know from attending military shows, when it comes to things like LW jackets or French cyclist jackets. You might say he’s the John Chapman of those types of jackets.

Brice is easily the most knowledgeable fellow I know regarding LW jackets. But not just that.

He has an encyclopaedic knowledge regarding WWI Central Power flying coats and kit, and WWII German Heer and Waffen-SS uniforms and kit. He also has an incredible amount of knowledge regarding the FFL which comes not just from interest but experience.

It is very safe to say that Brice is one of the most knowledgeable members on this site by a very wide margin.

 

[Silver Surfer]

well, that's about as conclusive as it gets. good job.

 

[Saint-ex]

It's cute the little label with his name, do you think his mother would have sewn it? My mother sewed the same ones on my clothes when I went to summer camp.

Thanks @Pilot for you detailed confirmation of our doubts!

 

[Silver Surfer]

more on

 

[Chandler]

I "must?"

Don' think so carpet bagger.

 

[leper-colony]

I will not comply.