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| I due dittatori fautori del "Patto d'Acciaio" |
Splendido anello in argento con il busto del Duce placcato in oro, sapientemente elaborato da un gioelliere tedesco, subito dopo la firma del "Patto d'Acciaio" tra Italia e Germania il 22 maggio 1939, siglato a Berlino da Galeazzo Ciano e Joachim von Ribbentrop.
Questi anelli commemorativi furono commissionati dall'organizzazione tedesca e realizzati in numero limitato con le immagini di Mussolini e Hitler, per essere donati ai partecipanti all'evento.
Un piccolo quantitativo è arrivato sul mercato collezionistico durante la fiera di Stoccarda nel 1997, presentato dal figlio dell'artigiano-gioielliere che realizzò il disegno e i prototipi di questi anelli.
L'anello misura 25 mm di lunghezza e 19 mm di larghezza. L'aquila bilaterale con il fascio misura circa 13 mm, mentre il busto di Mussolini a rilievo misura circa 19 mm. L'anello è realizzato in argento e marcato all'interno "835" con l'immagine del Duce placcata in oro 24 Kt. |
| Rings of the Pact of Steel |
| This ring is 100-percent original and ais the most important of all the art of the finger ring in military or political history. It was designed and produced by one of the most talented jewelry artisans in the turbulent years of the 1930-1940s. This man (the jeweler) was a firm patriot in the NS ideology as well as a master artisan in jewelry arts. He had contracts with the NS Government as well as commissions with many of the famous firms that produced jewelry themselves, or contracted out to dependable artists, such as this man. When the "steel-pact" was signed our jeweler extraordinaire immediately set to work designing a set of commemorative rings that would honor the great event. He designed a pair of rings so profoundly beautiful that the artist considered them to be practically his crowning achievement surpassing practically all his other efforts. The theme of course for the set would be the German and Italian leaders, Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. The artist’s son later told us that this was, for the most part, experimental and the project was completed with a few examples produced, but only a few were ever purchased by one of the major jewelry companies and that he thought that certain of the pact participants received them. This man was the only jeweler in Europe, as far as we know, who employed the enamel side panels on a ring that look so artistically stunning. The pact rings are large and dramatic as was the pact. The top of the ring is the size of an elongated U.S 25-cent piece; practically an inch from top to bottom and 3/4 inch from side to side. The fascist eagle, or aquila, stands about 1/2 an inch high on both sides of the shank. The bust portrait is about 3/4 inch high. The Mussolini pact rings were found in at least three forms as constructed by this jeweler. The first type was an all-silver ring with enameled top and side bearing the silver bust portrait of Il Duce, Mussolini. The sides bear the fascist national eagle.The second type is the same except it has the 24-karat-gold-plated bust portrait.The third type is the same except that the entire metal surface is gold plated. The son of our jeweler-contact told us that the all-silver one was probably the intended production model, or possibly the one with silver shank and gold-plated bust portrait was the one. There is no question of that and at this time they are extremely limited. The prices are extremely reasonable for these, the most historically important and beautiful rings of the Reich. Each ring is stamped with the ‘835’ silver mark inside the shank. |
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