Victorinox Tang Stamps

[J Mackrel Jones]

Much better. Danke.


I've never seen the Victorinox + shield stamp you show as 2013 -


What models have you encountered it on?




Also there are a few newer ones missing. After 2005 there are in fact 3 different tang stamps. Big V with smaller stamp, Big V with bigger stamp and V the same size as all the other letters.


(Image removed from quote.)


More info here --> http://forum.multitool.org/index.php?topic=46739

Are you sure the first stamp is 2004?  I thought the four-line stamp (w/ Rostfrei on the fourth line and V of Victorinox same height as the other letters) ended around 1984 (ulli gives 1986).
Good work, ulli !   I think tho that a couple of the dates could be modified - US PAT PEND on the can opener only for a couple years - 1951 (when the arc-style opener appears) to 1953 (when the patent was approved and PAT appears) - and PAT from 1953 to 1973 (when the 20-year Swiss patent expired).  The ending date for the Elinox stamps is about 1978.

[jazzbass]

Are you sure the first stamp is 2004?  I thought the four-line stamp (w/ Rostfrei on the fourth line and V of Victorinox same height as the other letters) ended around 1984 (ulli gives 1986).
Good work, ulli !   I think tho that a couple of the dates could be modified - US PAT PEND on the can opener only for a couple years - 1951 (when the arc-style opener appears) to 1953 (when the patent was approved and PAT appears) - and PAT from 1953 to 1973 (when the 20-year Swiss patent expired).  The ending date for the Elinox stamps is about 1978.

That's my picture, and the first knife there is definitely from 2004. In fact, it's not stated on that image but the topic of that thread was "thin tang (2.0mm) 91mm tang stamps", so that first stamp is from a 2004/5 2.0mm blade. If you look at the image above, the 2004 stamp does have the large V. The "large" V stamp does start in 1986 (battle series knives are the best to show this), so the date ranges for the 91mm stamps are basically:

1974-1986: VSSR/OS, small "V"
1986-2005: VSSR/OS, Large "V"
2005-2011: VSS/OS, Large "V"
2011+ : VSS/OS, small "V"

[detron]

Are you sure the first stamp is 2004?  I thought the four-line stamp (w/ Rostfrei on the fourth line and V of Victorinox same height as the other letters) ended around 1984 (ulli gives 1986).
Good work, ulli !   I think tho that a couple of the dates could be modified - US PAT PEND on the can opener only for a couple years - 1951 (when the arc-style opener appears) to 1953 (when the patent was approved and PAT appears) - and PAT from 1953 to 1973 (when the 20-year Swiss patent expired).  The ending date for the Elinox stamps is about 1978.

That's my picture, and the first knife there is definitely from 2004. In fact, it's not stated on that image but the topic of that thread was "thin tang (2.0mm) 91mm tang stamps", so that first stamp is from a 2004/5 2.0mm blade. If you look at the image above, the 2004 stamp does have the large V. The "large" V stamp does start in 1986 (battle series knives are the best to show this), so the date ranges for the 91mm stamps are basically:

1974-1986: VSSR/OS, small "V"
1986-2005: VSSR/OS, Large "V"
2005-2011: VSS/OS, Large "V"
2011+ : VSS/OS, small "V"

@jazzbass,  you have done so much I hate to ask, but can you give a side by side picture showing the the 1974-1986 and the 1986-2005?  I think a visual will be a huge help to me, and maybe others

Thank you very much

[ICanFixThat]

Are you sure the first stamp is 2004?  I thought the four-line stamp (w/ Rostfrei on the fourth line and V of Victorinox same height as the other letters) ended around 1984 (ulli gives 1986).
Good work, ulli !   I think tho that a couple of the dates could be modified - US PAT PEND on the can opener only for a couple years - 1951 (when the arc-style opener appears) to 1953 (when the patent was approved and PAT appears) - and PAT from 1953 to 1973 (when the 20-year Swiss patent expired).  The ending date for the Elinox stamps is about 1978.

That's my picture, and the first knife there is definitely from 2004. In fact, it's not stated on that image but the topic of that thread was "thin tang (2.0mm) 91mm tang stamps", so that first stamp is from a 2004/5 2.0mm blade. If you look at the image above, the 2004 stamp does have the large V. The "large" V stamp does start in 1986 (battle series knives are the best to show this), so the date ranges for the 91mm stamps are basically:

1974-1986: VSSR/OS, small "V"
1986-2005: VSSR/OS, Large "V"
2005-2011: VSS/OS, Large "V"
2011+ : VSS/OS, small "V"

@jazzbass,  you have done so much I hate to ask, but can you give a side by side picture showing the the 1974-1986 and the 1986-2005?  I think a visual will be a huge help to me, and maybe others

Thank you very much

You can look at Uli's picture C8 vs. C5 I think that's what you're asking for.

[detron]

Are you sure the first stamp is 2004?  I thought the four-line stamp (w/ Rostfrei on the fourth line and V of Victorinox same height as the other letters) ended around 1984 (ulli gives 1986).
Good work, ulli !   I think tho that a couple of the dates could be modified - US PAT PEND on the can opener only for a couple years - 1951 (when the arc-style opener appears) to 1953 (when the patent was approved and PAT appears) - and PAT from 1953 to 1973 (when the 20-year Swiss patent expired).  The ending date for the Elinox stamps is about 1978.

I believe you are correct, and thanks!  that makes it easier to understand
That's my picture, and the first knife there is definitely from 2004. In fact, it's not stated on that image but the topic of that thread was "thin tang (2.0mm) 91mm tang stamps", so that first stamp is from a 2004/5 2.0mm blade. If you look at the image above, the 2004 stamp does have the large V. The "large" V stamp does start in 1986 (battle series knives are the best to show this), so the date ranges for the 91mm stamps are basically:

1974-1986: VSSR/OS, small "V"
1986-2005: VSSR/OS, Large "V"
2005-2011: VSS/OS, Large "V"
2011+ : VSS/OS, small "V"

@jazzbass,  you have done so much I hate to ask, but can you give a side by side picture showing the the 1974-1986 and the 1986-2005?  I think a visual will be a huge help to me, and maybe others

Thank you very much

You can look at Uli's picture C8 vs. C5 I think that's what you're asking for.

[Huntsman]

@jazzbass,  you have done so much I hate to ask, but can you give a side by side picture showing the the 1974-1986 and the 1986-2005?  I think a visual will be a huge help to me, and maybe others

Do these help?
The back side picture shows the 75-86 and 86-05 stamp on the left (same stamp I think for the two periods) then the 2005+ stamp on the right
The front side picture shows the 75-86 stamp on the left, then 86-05, then 05-11, then 11+

Post updated with much better second photo.

BTW - I had no idea how hard it is to take these close up photos - Hats off to all you MTo and Wiki guys for all your work 

... so the date ranges for the 91mm stamps are basically:

1974-1986: VSSR/OS, small "V"
1986-2005: VSSR/OS, Large "V"
2005-2011: VSS/OS, Large "V"
2011+ : VSS/OS, small "V"

Thanks for this - already copied into my SAK database 
But I would change your table slightly as follows:

1974-1986    VSSR/+CB OS   Small "V"
1986-2005    VSSR/+CB OS   Large "V"
2005-2011    VSS/OS            Large "V"
2011+          VSS/OS            Small "V"

Where of course +CB  is the 'plus' sign (presumably a Swiss Cross) and the Crossbow emblem

[detron]

@jazzbass,  you have done so much I hate to ask, but can you give a side by side picture showing the the 1974-1986 and the 1986-2005?  I think a visual will be a huge help to me, and maybe others

Do these help?
Left sides of course have the earlier stamps

BTW - I had no idea how hard it is to take these close up photos - Hats off to all you MTo and Wiki guys for all your work 

... so the date ranges for the 91mm stamps are basically:

1974-1986: VSSR/OS, small "V"
1986-2005: VSSR/OS, Large "V"
2005-2011: VSS/OS, Large "V"
2011+ : VSS/OS, small "V"

Thanks for this - already copied into my SAK database 
But I would change your table slightly as follows:

1974-1986    VSSR/+CB OS   Small "V"
1986-2005    VSSR/+CB OS   Large "V"
2005-2011    VSS/OS            Large "V"
2011+          VSS/OS            Small "V"

Where of course +CB  is the 'plus' sign (presumably a Swiss Cross) and the Crossbow emblem

thanks,  that is a huge help!   

[Huntsman]

thanks,  that is a huge help!   

Cheers - Just added a much better second (front side) photo showing all four front side stamps since 76 - See my post above
I hope I got this right - I'm still a newbie compared to most of you guys out there!!

[jazzbass]

thanks,  that is a huge help!   

Cheers - Just added a much better second (front side) photo showing all four front side stamps since 76 - See my post above
I hope I got this right - I'm still a newbie compared to most of you guys out there!!

Close. What you list as the "05-11" stamp is really the 09-11 stamp. While the words are the same as the 05-09 stamp, if you see my pic above you can see that the relative size of the words are different and there is a little more tracking (space between letters) in the 09-11 stamp.

[ulli]

I made some changes, here is the newest compilation.

Some differences are very small, for example between the H3 and the H5 stamp. This is a compilation for all sort of victorinox pocket knives, not only for the 91 mm. So the crowbow does not appear on soldiers. The tang stamp C5 (Vsssr) was used for the soldiers until 2008, but maybe disappeared on the 91 mm earlier. The U3 stamp (+ PAT) surely was only used until 1971. I have soldiers from this year with the stamp and without the stamp, and never seen a soldier after 1971 with the stamp.

By the way, how was the tang stamp between 1952 and 1974?

[GigaHz]

What year is this? Same blade front and back. I see now the V is the same size so around 1970.

[ulli]

Between 1968 and 1974.

[GigaHz]

Between 1968 and 1974.

Thank you

40's?

[ulli]

Yes between 1943 and ca. 1950. This elsener schwyz swiss made is a really rare tang stamp, not often used.

[ulli]

 Is there a can opener on that knife and if there is, what kind kind of?

[GigaHz]

Is there a can opener on that knife and if there is, what kind kind of?

[jazzbass]

What year is this? Same blade front and back. I see now the V is the same size so around 1970.

Between 1968 and 1974.

Actually, this stamp (VxSSR/VOS) is the standard stamp from 1957 to 1974 on both 84mm and 91mm knives. 1957 is the change point from the exposed rivet design to the hidden rivet design (see below), and there is some cross over during the transition. Earlier exposed rivet knives typically has VxSS/VO stamps, and you see some of these on the earliest hidden rivet knives. Here's one of the last hidden rivet/large awl knives dated 1963 where you can see the VxSSR/VOS stamp in use:

Yes between 1943 and ca. 1950. This elsener schwyz swiss made is a really rare tang stamp, not often used.

The Elsner Schwyz Swiss Made stamp really appears mostly around the 1944/1947 era when they transitioned from the original style can opener to the crab claw style used until 1952, so you see it show up on both styles of knife (see below). They show up on about 10% of the knives from these eras, always around the 1946 transition, always stamped on the reverse with "Inoxyd", and always with the "Swiss Made" on the cap lifter. The similar (and more rare) "Elsener Switzerland Stainless" also appears around the same time with the same features. One thing I have noticed, albeit with a small sample size, is that Elsener Schwyz stamped blades from the mid 40s are thinner than the more common "Armee Suisse/Inoxyd" blades, at least for the 91mm - 2.4mm at the tang vs 2.7mm which was standard at the time. The handmade nature of knives during this time make it difficult to say that it was intentional or just manufacturing variance.

[ulli]

Ok thats the old can opener, as I thought. That mean its before 1951 when the new can opener appeared. So you can date a knife not only from the stamps, but also from the tools. Special is the "swiss made" stamp on the bottle opener. I`ve never seen the combination of these 3 tang stamps together before, so its a new combination that I added to my compilation. Thats a really cool knife, even if the main blade was sharpened many times.

[ulli]

Awesome your knives @jazzbass and very useful infos!

What I don`t really understand is the reason they changed the tang stamps so many times. For brand marketing its the worst thing you can do!
I do understand the change from elsener to victoria, that was an emotional thing. And all the "inox" stamps were normal at that time.
But what was the reason for all the other tang stamps? Maybe when the son took over the company from his father, he changed also the brand names. Or the tang stams define some markets they were produced for or a specific tang stamp for a specific size of pocket knives.
At the beginning, victorinox used french tang stamps like all the jnoxyd stamps. Elsener, who founded the company, learned knife-maker in france. Maybe that was the reason why. The english stamps appeared later, could be because of the open market to UK and US. Today in middle europe, its difficult to find pocket knives with english tang stamps. So maybe all this "swiss made" and "switzerland" thing was made for the markets in US and UK. Very special is the tang stamp "suisse made", a word in french and one in english. Very rare, and maybe the link between the change from french stamps to english stams :-) In 1952 they made VSSR as the standard tang stamp, reduction of comlexity. But the elinox line makes no sense to me, i think that was a failure, so they changed it back some years later. But the change of tang stamps the last few years, no idea why they did that...

[CYYL]

That's really imppresive work you do and it's so useful!

[ulli]

Did an update on the tang stamp compilation.

[SAK Guy]

This is great!!!  Thank you!!

[captain spaulding]

This is great!!!  Thank you!!

+1. Excellent.

[jaydar]

Thanks again for creating this it really is a great help

Any chance this could be sticked / Pinned

At least once a week I am searching for this thread

[captain spaulding]

Thanks again for creating this it really is a great help

Any chance this could be sticked / Pinned

At least once a week I am searching for this thread

Print it out and keep it handy.

[Joe58]

Very good idea and quite helpful to the forum.

Appreciate you taking on such a task.

 

[ulli]

Did an update.

[zoidberg]

       

[SAK Guy]

      

+100!!

[Herman]

That's a great job you did/are doing
But it makes me wonder, why doesn't the company itself keep track of all this? Aren't they proud of the rich history of their beloved products?
Or do they just not share this information?