France - Military medal - Set of French Médaille...

The top left medal: Echelon Or (Gold) • Recipient & Year: This medal is engraved on the back with the name F. Tonnel and the year 1985. • Meaning: The gold color together with the smooth hanging eye on the red-white-blue ribbon indicates this is the gold medal. • Years of service: This is awarded exclusively to employees who have reached the milestone of 35 years of loyal service. 2. The top right medal: Echelon Grand Or (Great Gold) • Recipient & Year: If you turn the medal around, you will very likely also find the name F. Tonnel here (possibly with a year around 1990, since this is five years after the gold medal). • Meaning: This is the very highest rank within the French labor distinctions. You can recognize this type immediately by the very detailed gold hanging in the shape of an oak and laurel wreath that connects the medal to the ribbon. • Years of service: This prestigious medal is only awarded after an impressive career of at least 40 years of service. The left medal (Inscription: Y. SEMIN 1977) • Visual features: This silver medal shows a highly detailed industrial engraving with a large factory structure (a truss or lifting bridge), a factory chimney, and in the background a cityscape. Around the edge is the text: "INDUSTRIE • TRAVAIL • COMMERCE". • The design (Etching): This is the iconic design of the famous French engraver Louis-Alexandre Bottée (1852–1940). He designed this motif at the end of the 19th century especially for the French Ministry of Trade and Industry. • Meaning: The medal was awarded in 1977 to Y. Semin for a career of 20 years of loyal service (hence the silver version, also known as Échelon Argent). 2. The right medal (Text at the bottom: COMMERCE INDUSTRIE) • Visual features: This silver medal has a more modern, more stylized design. In the center is a gear (symbol of industry), a ship’s hammer/anvil, and in the background the outlines of a factory and a palm tree or ears of grain. At the top the word "TRAVAIL" (Work) and at the bottom "COMMERCE • INDUSTRIE". • The design (Etching): This specific design was made by the renowned French medalist and sculptor Georges Guiraud (1901–1989). This type became the standard version for this ministerial distinction from the 1950s and 1960s. • Meaning: Like the left one, this is a silver medal (Échelon Argent) for 20 years of service. The name cartouche under the gear is left blank on this medal, which means it was not officially engraved at the time, or it is an unused spare specimen.

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