M33 SS Large Oval Eickhorn – D751
One of the first SS daggers ever to be manufactured during the Nazi era, was the so called large oval trademark Eickhorn. These are early production pieces most likely were put out in February of 1934. As most of the early production of SS daggers produced by this firm were mainly Rohm and Himmler edged weapons with the small trademark, these blades bearing the large squirrel logo are quite sought after by collectors. As they are not all that often encountered.
As far as SS grips go, I can’t imagine one much nicer than the example in this offering. The condition is about mint as they come, being void of chips, flakes, or repairs. It has a beautiful smooth surface both fore and aft, that is jet black in color throughout. That familiar hour glass shape is textbook Eickhorn all the way, and it doesn’t get any better than what you are seeing in the photos. In the center of the handle sits a nickel silver eagle which is set flush,and perfectly straight. Seldom are these emblems seen with the period silver frosting like the one in this grip. As most have worn over the years. Likewise at the top of the obverse, the SS runes button is as in perfect condition as the day that the factory worker set it in place. As a dagger that didn’t go through the ordinary distribution channels, the crossguards remain void of an SS district stamp. We occasionally see this with Rohm daggers, but rarely with your standard M33’s. This very well could have been a special gift to an Allgemeine officer during the period, hence the absence of the Roman numeral stamp. Both upper and lower guards are nice and smooth on the obverse as well as reverse sides. The deep hand enhanced file marks point to these being in-house Eickhorn produced hardware sets, and most likely are internally caster marked “HE”.
No two ways about it, the scabbard has been repainted at some period prior. It certainly doesn’t appear to have been in modern times, as the surface paint exhibits orange peal, dullness, and wear. Who really knows, though erring on the caution side call it post war paint. The lower fitting is in excellent condition, that even includes the lower ball which always seems to have the ubiquitous hit of some sort to it. The upper fitting has a couple minor taps, with small little crack at the narrow of the tip on the lateral side.
We conclude this M33 SS dagger with the blade. It remains full length, void of any sharpening, tipping, or buffing. There are a couple smudge areas on the reverse that are not all that bad, and one little cutting edge waver on the top near the tip. With that aside, this blade has a fantastic luster, with a ton of beautiful crossgrain running the length of both sides. Additionally, an absolutely gorgeous Meine Ehre heist Treue SS motto is shown etched perfectly down the obverse side. Each and every letter of the motto is burnished beautifully and 100%. On the reverse is the reason that these SS daggers have the term “large oval Eickhorn”. You can see the size of the trademark is quite bigger in proportion to the small ovals, seen mainly on the blades associated with early 33’s, both SA and SS.
A rare trademark to find, particularly on an introductory nickel silver SS dagger. SOLD