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MY DAUM CRYSTAL COLLECTION: AUTOS, BOATS, TRAINS, PLANES, BIRDS,
DOLPHINS, AND OTHER ANIMALS, LIMITED EDITIONS, CLOCKS, CATALOGS, AND
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There are numerous sources that list "all" Daum's signatures, including Daum catalogs and books about Daum. Most all variations in the Daum Signatures occured in the Daum Nancy period of 1890-1945. See the picture below of Official Daum Signatures from their 1980 Product Catalog. In more recent times, since 1945, and certainly for the period of my collection, Daum has used only four different signatures. The exact dates for these signatures is unknown, as each source has different information, even among official Daum Catalogs. However, in almost every case, the correct signature was and remains "Daum France" as shown in picture 1 below. In early pieces you may also see "Daum France" with the Cross of Lorraine in between (see pic 4 below), just "Daum" alone (see pic 2 below), or "Daum . France" In actual fact, while 99% of Daum pieces during the period 1960-1999 were in fact signed "Daum France" or one of the other signatures above, there were a few pieces signed "Daum Cristal". The only piece I have signed this way is the Medium Horse Head. I was suspicious until I found several different horse head pieces all with the "Daum Cristal" signature. I have never found any documentation regarding this signature and would love any information about it. I have also added a 6th picture titled Anatomy of the Signature. It shows in high resolution just how coarse the engraved signature actually was, at least in this 1960's example. Load the picture and then zoom in. If your piece is NOT signed, or does not have one of the above signatures, then your piece is most likely a Factory 2nd. Factory 2nds were only sold in the Factory Store, and were sold to Daum Employees and to people who toured the Daum Factory. Typically Factory 2nds have some minor imperfections with the piece, and may or may not be completely finished. Imperfections may include: internal bubbles, internal distortions, misaligned exterior frosting, etc. Such pieces may also have missing frosting or other etched information (such as the Claude Nicolas signature), and were sold "as is". Official Factory 2nds were not signed, but instead stamped/etched with the design shown below in picture 7, which has a flower pattern and a stylized "Nancy". The 2nds stamp shown is correct for the period before the year 2000. I am told that beginning in 2000 or 2001, a similiar stamp design was used, but it had the year (2001, 2002, etc.) as part of the design. I have also seen unofficial Factory 2nds that were only partially completed pieces, without any stamp at all, in which case I believe they were obtained by factory employees. In all cases however there is something about the piece that caused it to be pulled from the production line and not signed as a first quality piece. Note: if a piece is signed "Daum France" but still has missing or misaligned frosting, this was probably a production error that allowed the piece to get through by mistake. I consider such pieces "Variations" since they are still first quality crystal, just unfinished.
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