Glider pilot wings for review.
 

Dear Forum ,
Real or fake ?
Any comment would be appreciated.
Thank you ,

I am afraid that they are not genuine.

I fell into the same 'pothole' some months ago; hence the following thread:
https://www.britishbadgeforum.com/fo...ad.php?t=70664

Thanks.
 

Your input is much appreciated.
Many thanks to you.

Despite the attempt at "age" on the obverse, a glance at the reverse tells all.
Far too much of this rubbish is being sold as original these days.

Not even close to the original!

That's certainly true, although, I dare say the asking price might be, depending upon the seller concerned.

Thank you for your comments Gentlemen.
A friend of mine got burned !

Well, never mind, at least it was not you.

I'm still none the wiser as to what constitutes "good" or "bad". Is there a place where one can consult the gold standard ? I know that the much copied Air Crew Europe Star has spawned various "How to recognise a fake " websites. Is there anything similar for wings and badges ?
Mike

Mike, on occasion it can be obvious, if it looks new, it often is just that, I'm afraid it can come down to an almost forensic examination, although, after sometime spent looking at cloth, some badges are truly awful, the materials used and the way they are put together, they differ a great deal from original examples.
Notwithstanding, you do certainly need to spend a lot of time looking in detail at every piece of cloth that comes along that is of particular interest to you.
Hope all is well in the last outpost,
Regards Frank

In my experience those "who know" are not keen to share their knowledge with those who don't. They say it's so fakers can't do a better job, but I have always wondered. ...

No that's not the issue in my opinion. Also, there is no gold standard.

Numerous original examples are shown on this forum (threads and members albums), and many other forums as well. Also various books have been discussed on this forum that cover the subject.

I think that with a bit of research every collector has access to a wealth of knowledge. My advice would be to do you homework and make up your own mind.

I agree with my friend Luc’s advice — start going through the threads and albums on the Forum, you’ll be able to calibrate your eye for the design, materials and construction of original badges, and better avoid the fakes.

Cheers,
Donovan

If you have always wondered, the very best advice that I can think of, would simply be to go out and physically examine every single piece of cloth that is of particular interest to you.
A very brief glance at the badge that is the subject of this thread should be enough, does the obverse match the reverse, what are the materials used and how is the badge made, how old should the badge actually be?
It is really not always as hard as you may well think it to be.