Dear friends, Just to complete the subject “Bulgarian Royal daggers” I’ll share with you the last two daggers: Gendarmerie officer dagger and dirk of Royal military orchestra.
Pesho, I really like your Gendarmerie dagger. It's great to see one that is personalized and looks to have never been cleaned. It's really a beautiful piece! Next week, I will have some time and I will post a pic of my Royal military orchestra dagger and later on, the Red Cross and Brannik daggers.
Hi Ted, All daggers – 1st and 2nd model Army, Police, Gendarmerie, Red Cross and Royal military orchestra have identical engraved blades and as far as I know 1st model Army only has Robert Klaas markers mark.
So we can say we have outsdanding textbook examples .Many thanks to show these daggers.Im waiting for Garys pics .I can say these bulgarian daggers are beautyfull handcrafted ,im not a fan of SA styledagger but WH daggers are close to shape but bulgarian are more elegant and stylish in my opinion .Ted
Posts: 827 | Location: Poland | Registered: 05 October 2005
I have two Orchestra daggers and I purposely posted this one knowing that you would be curious about the blade. This dagger in fact, does not have an etched blade. The blade is plain, plated and not maker marked.
Hi Gary, Sorry for the delay, but I was traveling up and down and I had no time to replay on time. Gary , Thank you that you open a discussion for this very rare dagger. Due to the fact Royal Military Orchestra Dagger had about 60 – 70 musicians only to find and to see this dagger is very ,very difficult, almost impossible– even some people think that this dagger is fantasy piece. In mr. Predov’s book for the Bulgarian Royal Daggers I found descriptions of the dagger which has some differences with the descriptions of decree Nr.5 dated 21st march 1938 approved by King Boris III : 1.- Mr.Predov gives a length of the blade 257 mm but as per the Decree the blade should be 220 mm .In both cases the blade is engraved. 2.-As per mr.Predov the scabbard has length 270 mm and looks like Army scabbard but as per the Decree the dagger has chromium plated steel scabbard with length 260 mm .
I bought the dagger without scabbard – the man used the dagger for letter opening. From the same man late on I bought other military items including chromium plated steel scabbard with length 270 mm, but I don’t know if the scabbard belongs to the dagger.
As always, I appreciate all of the information that you share with us.
Regarding Orchestra daggers (and Bulgarian daggers in general), there seems to be discrepancies and variations in many known examples. As you stated, one reference book shows an Orchestra dagger with a German Army style scabbard however, the decree states (and my example), came with the chrome plated scabbard. The scabbard that you purchased separately, looks to be the same as mine. Can you show a pic or tell us what the scabbard end looks like? By the way, I measured the scabbard on this piece and it is exactly 260 mm and the blade is 220 mm. Both dimensions match what you stated the decree says it should be.
Hi Gary, Here is the end of the scabbard. By the way , you mentioned that you have you Royal Orchestra daggers .Is the other dagger is identical to that one which you was so kind to share with us please?
Your scabbard does appear to be nearly identical in design as mine so maybe you got very lucky and found the correct one for an Orchestra dagger. The only very slight difference is in the tip. Mine might not be quite as round as yours. Mine looks a little more like a "bulb" shape. The next time I get my dagger out of safe keeping, I will try to get a picture so that you can see what I'm talking about.
My other Orchestra dagger is identical to the one I posted other than it does have an etched blade and it is not maker marked.
In my opinion, these Orchestra daggers exhibit very nice attention to detail and craftsmanship. Pesho, like your, my daggers fit into their scabbards like a glove. It's that smooth as silk and perfect fit type of thing. Also, both of my dagger handles appear to be gold plated like the German made Bulgarian Air force dirks. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the parts or the entire dagger was produced in Germany.
.Ted
This dagger in fact, does not have an etched blade. The blade is plain, plated and not maker marked. 
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