Hi All, clearly I don't check greekchat very often or I would have seen this thread a lot earlier.

Dyer-Ratliff is/was (their phone has been disconnected, but their website is still up??) a jeweler based in Indianapolis, and has been making badges for the last ~100 years. sidebar: does anyone know definitively if they have gone out of business? While they are not the official fraternity jeweler, it is/was possible to order a custom badge with a gem of your choosing. Many of the Indiana Chapters (Alpha, Beta,Gamma specifically) ordered up custom badges during the 30's-60's for their members, often in custom gem configurations like this. These badges are/were not cheap, but of a MUCH higher quality than the standard badges of today. You get what you pay for!

My chapter has a Dyer badge as the president's pin, which I ordered when I was the chapter VPF. It is plain, with no gems, but it has such spectacular elongated points that it does not need any embellishment. Part of the officer job sell for the president is that you get to wear the pointy badge! I was very disturbed to find the badge was damaged and almost lost over the last 2 years-I worked with the chapter president to get it repaired and it is now being worn again, proudly at official chapter events. Yay! :)

a few words on the winning bid price. Dyer badges come up on ebay every so often and sell for top dollar, usually upwards of $500. ( vs. the ~$100 or so for std pearl badges from balfour/burrpatt) This opal dyer is the first to show up in 10+ years, and maybe the third opal badge to come to ebay ever. Hence the high price and the willingness of the winning bidder to pay top dollar. I've written at length about badge collectors (I consider myself one and have many collector friends) on other threads in the Theta forum so I won't rehash any (polarizing) opinions here. ;)

Incidentally, there is no prohibition against opals (or any other gem combo) in our current badges-you just have to do a custom order from the jeweler. In the interest of full disclosure I should mention modern day opals are not as high a quality as those in older pieces (good opals are not cut up into small chips nowadays!). If you choose to order a custom badge, i would recommend you ask the jeweler to send you a few loose gems for approval prior to shelling out the $$ for a custom badge you might hate. The deposit on the stones should around $50. My husband did this for me a few years ago..

With the holidays coming, I'm going to remind everyone about the crummy 'marriage' pieces starting to appear on ebay, just in time for the holidays. (in jewelry terms, a 'marriage' = 'multiple pieces not originally meant to be married together'). Anything w/a coat-of-arms on it is suspect, so be wary. There have been a number of ebay sales this year w/loose c-o-a pieces for sale. These get purchased and glued on cheap base metal trinkets and resold for high profit. Often they are marketed as 'old'. If the listing doesn't state the specific metal content (10k/14k/sterling) it probably isn't a quality item. Look at the photos carefully! Re-read the listing and look for language around the age of the piece too. Buyer beware! I've seen so many of these over the last 2 years go for $$$, and those buyers were completely conned! If you have a specific question-just PM me. I'll try to be better about checking my messages here.

Thanks to kaokite for the great information and updates. Regarding stones/jewels, here's an FYI- Tucson AZ hosts the Gem and Mineral Show every February (google it). It is the largest show of its kind in the world. There are spectacular finds and I imagine that quality loose stones can be purchased if one so desires, to put into a badge. I know that many of my friends buy loose stones each year to have put into custom jewelry.

The Tucson show is preceeded by a show in January in Quartzsite AZ, but I don't know what it's like, and I don't particularly want to drive out there as it is literally in the middle of nowhere.

Great Info!

Theta ladies:

Pardon the crash. I saw this on Ebay, and I thought you might be interested. It looks like a Dyer badge to my (untrained) eye.

http://cgi.ebay.com/10K-OLD-KAPPA-AL...ht_1874wt_1065

Obviously the seller isnt greek, "Kappa Alpha Omega"

This 1909 Teapot is on eBay


http://cgi.ebay.com/GLEAMING-SILVER-...item4cebf611fc

Hmmm...wonder if there is a way to tell with any degree of certainty that the engraving is original or just a recent addition?

Another e-selling scam showed up today on our fav. website.. I won't mention any sellers or item numbers, but you'll be able to see what I'm talking about.

it seems sellers have noticed the pointy badge shape brings more money. Beware of digitally altered photos that have been 'stretched' to make the badges look longer. The listing in question is actually a pin from the late 80's when we were using Pollock as the official fraternity jeweler. As a general rule, Pollack pins are junk-the pearls are set at uneven heights, the top or bottom points were sometimes crooked, and the enamel and overall badge were terribly thin.

Beware ladies!

Ha, that is too funny. I'm not a Theta and even I can tell! You have to love that the picture in the body is stretched longer than the main photo. That seller's got class.

Okay now I have to check that out for myself! :)

I cant tell with my untrained eyes that the pin picture looks stretched per say, but I can see where the bottom point is seemingly sharper than the other three points and the pearls do look placed funny.

Safe forum for buying/selling badges?
 

Hi, ladies. Having been a college student with zero extra dollars, I never purchased a badge for myself. Now, over ten years since my initiation - I want one! I know I can buy a new one with my own info on the back, but I really like the idea of a vintage badge; one with some real life Theta history behind it. Alums may be a resource, but I admit I'm currently not active with my local alum chapter.

So... trolling for badges (eBay) is sketchy. I don't want to encourage the sale of these to/from the general public. But how else can you find a vintage badge? Any ideas? I'm also not able to spend mass amounts of money. Buying a new one, I'd be going with the basic, $100 badge. I'd love to hear people's comments and thoughts on this!

paging kaokite!!!! :)

Kappa Alpha Theta Badge on Ebay

$150 starting bid or $200 for buy now. Not sure if that's how it's normally priced. It's really pretty though.

Kappa Alpha Theta Badge

I am not sure about the authenticity/condition of the badge. Just giving you lovely ladies the link.

Thanks for pointing this listing out; it's not a vintage badge, no engraving. Looks like a (former?) member selling a fairly recent badge, in reading the description.

There are two other standard badges also up for sale right now; neither is 10K gold, but instead is "gold tone".

Caveat Emptor.

Heads up, ladies. There is another beautiful badge on ebay that you should be aware of. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tab%3DWatching

It does not have any engraving on the back (other than 14K and a tiny stamp), but has the seed pearls/diamonds and looks "pointy." There are still over 4 days left on the listing, and it is already at $281.

The picture doesn't look stretched to me, but I always think CG movies look real so who knows? lol Actually, the vendor lists the dimensions
(1 1/16 x 3/4 inches) and states that it is 1/4" longer than the current Theta badge sold via the KAO website. If someone is interested I didn't want you to miss it. (My daughter is a Theta but our $ is going for tuition and books these days. . . )