Hello and Regards from Germany,
Im quite new in the Western Buckle Game and am still learning.
I aquired this, what i believe is a vintage Buckle. It has some stamps on the reverse.
I just bought it off ebay germany and have it not in hands now. So i can just show the ebay photos for now.
Please help me to id the maker if possible and maybe how old this buckle could be?
For the Stamp on the backside I would read it as “ BERG” (Bob Berg??)
and St 02
Thanks in Advance
Andreas
screenshot from reddit update:
and the Ai also changed the maker mark on the backside.
HUH?
please show actual photo of the back now that you have it in hand
in Reddit somehow i could not post new photos in the Thread.
Here are the new photos of the actual Buckle.
on the original ebay listing 2 pictures are shown of the back of your buckle. BOTH ARE DIFFERENT BUCKLES.
the buckle marked BERG has a broken pin
the buckle marked ALPACA has the long undamaged pin
no no..its the same Buckle as shown on ebay. If you look closely on the ebay photo from the Front, the upper brass band has a light engraving that says “ Lucky” . the Buckle i have received has the same engraving.
The Thing is, the Seller probably has used the Ai on ebay for removing the background on the photos and therefore the Ai has also changed the makers mark from Alpaca Mexico to the BERG marking. This is typical for Ai. Its the exact same Buckle but the ebay Ai has messed up the markings.
Sorry, that explanation seems a bit hokey to me. eBay is under some strict FTC regulations and I find it unlikely that eBay would alter a hallmark on a photo. I know that would be strictly verboten for a seller. If eBay is using an Ai program that is altering hallmarks they might have a problem one day. Just my 2 cents.
i agree with you but its common for Ai.
The Ai spotted a marking on the original photo but probably couldnt read it properly and made up the “new” marking.
But the Seller has really sent the original Buckle from the ebay listing because of the front engraving of the brass band, that you can hardly see on the ebay photos but its there. I am still happy with my Buckle and will wear it. Its my first vintage piece and its not that easy to get here in Germany without ordering from overseas and maybe face customs fees etc.
Although, with the “new” marking I have nothing really to research anymore
AI should absolutely not be used in sales listing photos at all. If this isn’t a rule on selling platforms it should be and will start leading to many problems soon.
