This is a very nice 2nd pattern Luftwaffe dagger, featuring a rare maker we don’t see often.

The blade of this dress dagger is in excellent condition, unsharpened, and shows cross-grain running down to a fine point. The rare maker is “Gustav Spitzer” a small company that never produced many 2nd pattern Luftwaffe daggers. This example is a textbook version displaying generic fittings, which is correct since this firm never made their own fittings in-house.

The dagger has a white grip with its original wire and is completed with the correct Luftwaffe portepee (dagger knot). The Luft portepee is shorter in length and has a smaller acorn-shaped knot compared to a German Army dagger portepee.

The crossguard, pommel, and scabbard bands are all in great condition and have a matching silver colouring, creating a nice contrast as the rest of the scabbard is made of a darker metal.

This dagger comes complete with an excellent set of deluxe straps, with very ornate buckles and clips. The clips are clearly marked (D.R.G.M) and (RZM), which isn’t always found. The straps material and felt remain in excellent condition, showing little wear. Some small remnants of gold wash can still be seen on the fittings, with gold-washed fittings being intended for higher ranking officers.

For anyone starting out in collecting these historic items, I highly recommend the book (Exproring the Dress Daggers of the German Luftwaffe) by (Thomas T. Whittmann).