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The bracelet itself is in stunning condition, the enamel is perfect and the white metal is clean with a working catch. It measures 18cms so fits a slender wrist very well. Between the HAPAG flag and the swastika flag on the bracelet spells the word

“CARIBIA”; the 2 flags either side of the Swastika and the HAPAG are GH and KF,these are the initials of the couple who purchased it as a journey souvenir. The bracelet itself is in stunning condition, the enamel is perfect and the white metal is clean with a working catch. It measures 18cms so fits a slender wrist very well. The only other similar example we could find is located in a museum in America. This sweetheart bracelet has a black and white flag with the letters HAPAG (Hamburg Amerikanische Paketfahrt Actien-Gesellschaft), often referred to as the Hamburg-

American Line. At one time it was the world’s largest transatlantic shipping

enterprise established in Hamburg in 1847. Built in 1933, The Caribia worked under several flags: German Weimar Republic, Nazi Third Reich, the British flag, the Soviet Union flag and finally the Russian Federation tricolour. From 1982 until 1993 she worked as an education ship for fishing crews in Vladivostok before being scrapped in 1993

During WWI, most of the HAPAG fleets were destroyed and the founder, Albert Ballin shortly after committed suicide. After is death, the firm that he had led slowly began to rebuild most of its vessels. In 1935, they decided to change the name of the shipping line to “HANSA” because Albert Ballin was Jewish. Hansa’s last Atlantic crossing was in 1939