The Gahr firm most notable for their SS ties and the manufacture of Honor Rings for Himmler presentations was no doubt a premier manufacture of many Germanic pieces of jewelry of exceptional quality and are exceptionally rare to find in the market. 

The SS Zivil Abzeichen is said to have been manufactured by two individual firms and were private purchase items for wear in civilian attire and denoting attribution to the SS. The most commonly found pins are from the firm of Hofstatter and are not of the same quality or workmanship when compared with the Gahr examples.

Manufactured of .900 silver and displaying top notch enamel work these examples would have cost considerably more on a private purchase. This early example is numbered and while it is certainly rare, a boxed example makes this piece even more desirable with only a few examples known to me.

The Gahr firm was run by Karolina Gahr after the death of her husband in 1932. Its significance as the predominant jewelry manufacturer of the SS is well known and the pieces manufactured by the Gahr firm are some of the most sought after items for discriminating collectors of SS items.

Production figures for Gahr examples is roughly 4000 pieces to an estimated 175,000 Hoffstatler examples.

Photo Credits: Kris Lindblom