Victorinox Model 290 (picture heavy)

[jazzbass]

A week or so ago I won an auction on eBay for an old Victorinox knife with a hoof pick. Very old and very rare, this model appears in the 1903 catalog reproduced in many books, The Knife by Victorinox in particular. The area of SAK collecting most interesting to me are older knives, especially strange models long out of production. The Model 290 fits in that category perfectly - it was basically one of my "grail" SAKs. 

Here's a picture of it from the 1903 catalog, along with the other 91mm models of the day:



I was very excited to get what I was sure would be the cornerstone of my collection - the Model 290, one of the oldest, rarest 91mm SAKs in existence. Except that it's not. Not old? No no, it's quite old - circa 1905 by my estimate. Not rare? Trust me - it's extraordinarily rare, especially considering the condition that it's in. Probably one of the rarest SAKs out there, and I don't say that lightly. So what is it not then?

It's not a 91mm.

I have to be honest - after many years of collecting, 1000 knives purchased, and hundreds of thousands of knife sales poured over, not many things about SAKs surprise me anymore. The Model 290 that I pulled out of a well packed box from France today surprised the hell out of me. It's 100mm long. Here's why this is weird - to my knowledge, there is no other 100mm Officer's Knife out there. That is, a knife with a full compliment of top side and backside tools. Victorinox has made many 100mm knives - the earliest Soldiers were 100mm, and the "Farmer's Knives" made in the first half of the 20th century came in four sizes, the largest of which were 100mm and 106mm. However, there was never a line 100mm Officer's knives that were essentially larger versions of the standard 91mm line, much in the way the 91mm line was a larger version of the 84mm knives.

If I'm honest, I'm not sure what to make of it. It's age and rarity are clear. But my collection is fully centered around 91mm knives - hell I'm actively writing a book on them. Before the 290 got here today, I was even thinking it'd be a great knife for the cover! That idea's out - can't exactly feature a 100mm knife on the cover of a book about 91mm knives can you now? It's be like writing a book about VWs and putting an Audi on the cover.

At any rate, let's take a look at the Model 290. It's a pretty amazing knife, if you're in to old SAKs (which clearly I am). Top side tools include a large main 77mm blade (91mm main blades are typically 68mm long) stamped "Elsener Schwyz", large screwdriver (this is from the era before bottle openers), 31 tooth woodsaw (91mm versions are typically 29t or 27t), can opener (looks to be the same as the 91mm version), scissors, and a tiny, hollow leather punch. All tools are carbon steel. Construction is the typical 4 pin Victorinox design with nickel-silver dividers. The outer scales are aluminum as far as I can tell (they are non-magnetic and this knife predates stainless steel).

Front side:



and the back side:



Backside tools include the typical 5 turn corkscrew (appears to be the same as the 91mm variant), hoof pick with file engraved on it, and a gimlet (small drill) in place of where a similar 91mm knife of this era would have it's awl. In the picture below you can also see a close-up of the punch. Rather than a solid cutting tool like the Soldier knife's reamer, this is a hollow punch used (I assume) for leather work.



Below you can see a top and bottom view of the knife. The top view shows the layer order, which may look odd compared to modern SAKs but was typical of four layer knives from this era. The main blade and the saw share the middle of the knife without a divider, much in the way 91mm Huntsman models did until the mid 1930s. Huntsmans of this era, however, use a single large backspring for both the saw and main blade, where the 290 uses individual springs for each. The leather punch here is in place of where the Huntsman would have its pen blade. The bottom view show how the hoof pick fits into the center two springs of the main blade and the saw.



Now, I've said many times this knife is big. So - how big, comparatively? Let's take a look. Here is the 290 compared to knives from the same era (the M1890 Soldier is the 2009 reproduction, but supposedly done to the exact specifications of the originals). First, the knives themselves:



Then the can openers:



and the large screwdrivers:

[papercut]

Wow, proto alox!

[detron]

is that a toothpick I see?

[captain spaulding]

Very, very cool knives you have there. 

[ColoSwiss]

Outstanding score!  Didn't realize the handles were aluminum. The hollow punch might be for making clean round holes in belts and other leather goods like modern rotating leather punches.

[ICanFixThat]

That's the best SAK I've seen in a long time.  Congratulations !!!   

 

[stot]

Great find! Thanks very much for sharing.

[splico]

First coffee and great morning read. Thank you man 

[kkokkolis]

This is very nice! Congratulations.
Is the drill useful in a SAK?

[u99]

Very interesting information. Thank you very much!

[kkokkolis]

And what's that peculiar tool on the model No 238?

[ulli]

Thats a shell extractor.

[kkokkolis]

Thanks.

[twiliter]

Congrats again Jazz, thanks for sharing that one, it's a museum piece for certain. The rare 100mm factor is interesting, maybe deserves it's own chapter in your book if not the cover. 

Just curious, tempted to carry it at all? 

[Reinier]

Fantastic piece. I was bidding on it as well and I was secretly hoping nobody had noticed the auction
But knowing it's 100mm makes it even more special.

[splico]

Fantastic piece. I was bidding on it as well and I was secretly hoping nobody had noticed the auction
But knowing it's 100mm makes it even more special.

link on auction please?

[enki_ck]

Very nice score, I like the inclusion of the file on the hoof pick, relates to the file on the hook on the current Compact and similar. And it having aluminium scales is a nice touch too. The catalog pictures shows a bail, were there two versions of it or was the bail not included after all? It doesn't seem to have had it in your case.

[detron]

Very nice score, I like the inclusion of the file on the hoof pick, relates to the file on the hook on the current Compact and similar. And it having aluminium scales is a nice touch too. The catalog pictures shows a bail, were there two versions of it or was the bail not included after all? It doesn't seem to have had it in your case.

I wondered that too, but my first thought was "Don't question Jazzbass on SAK stuff"   

[M.TEX]

First one  I've seen it....

[Syph007]

Wow that's awesome!  Never saw that one before, thanks very much for sharing.   

[jazzbass]

The rare 100mm factor is interesting, maybe deserves it's own chapter in your book if not the cover. 

That's kind of what I'm thinking right now. I need to get more info on the 100mm knives first I think. Are there any others out there? If you look at this knife, all the parts are there to make an entire line of them - 100mm Spartans, Climbers, Huntsmans, etc.

It seems odd that this would be the only 100m knife they made like this. However, it's not out of the realm of possibility considering when it was made. The biggest issue you run in to when trying to document these old knives is the "made by hand" aspect of them. Since the 1940s Victorinox has been pretty automated, so minor changes in tool design are good indicators of a deliberate change in manufacturing methods or knife design. Pre-1930? Who knows what happened. Things back then were mostly hand made, so building a one-off like this for special orders is entirely plausible.

A good example of this is divider material. 91mm knives switched from nickel-silver liners to aluminum dividers in 1951. To make this change die cutting machines had to be changed and lots of stock ordered - it was a pretty big deal. It's a great thing to look at to date a knife. Unless, of course, the knife was made before the mid 1930s*. Then it seems the liners are made out of whatever thin stock happened to be around. Aluminum, brass, nickel-silver - I have older knives with them all. And why not? If you're cutting dividers and drilling them by hand, there's little difference effort wise in working thin pieces of any of those metals.

Likewise with the shapes of the tools. For example, we look at the shape of the combo tool on 84mm knives to date them from 78-84, 84-89, and 89+. Again, these tools are die stamped and their shape doesn't change unless a new die is deliberately created. On older knives? The can opener on one is a slightly different shape than the other because Hans grinds them one way and Friedrich grinds them slightly different.

Just curious, tempted to carry it at all? 

Ha - not in the least. And not because of it's rarity if I'm honest. I've often thought that if I was properly rich I'd carry a very old knife as a user just because I think they look cool (I'm not rich so I carry a Compact most days). No, I wouldn't carry this one because it's so damn big and heavy. Not only is it 100mm long, it's 18mm thick (which isn't too bad) and weights 195g. I checked against other knives in my collection - 195g is the heaviest Officer's Knife I could find until I got to the XL, XLT, XXLT and XAVT. The SuperTimer comes close at 192g.


* There was also a short period in the early 1940s when all knives were made with aluminum dividers. Nickel-silver dividers were standard by this time, so this change was more deliberate (it appears across the product line during the same time period). It appears to be the result of materials rationing for WWII.

[jazzbass]

The catalog pictures shows a bail, were there two versions of it or was the bail not included after all? It doesn't seem to have had it in your case.

This particular 290 I'm 99.999% sure never had a bail. The scales are held on by the two outer pins, and you can see the pin with the saw/punch is grooved exactly like the scales. This indicates to me that the knife was assembled with smooth aluminum scales, riveted, and then had the grooves cut in after assembly.

Regarding the bail it was, as far as I know, an option available on all knives at that time for an extra Fr. 0.35. Likewise the Victorinox emblem was also a Fr. 0.35 option. See here:



This is from the first page of Officer's Knives in the 1903 catalog. Translating from the German to English, it reads:

Officer's and Sport Knife
with shield (Swiss Coat of Arms)
Protected by Law (patented)
-
No. 205 With Shield
Price without bail - Fr 5.65 per piece
-"--- with - - -"--  --"- 6.00 -"----"---

This shield is available on all
Officer's knives with fiber scales
(except small 8 cm models)
Will be installed.
Additional price per model, per piece: Fr .35

So, regardless of the picture of the knife in the catalog, all of them could be ordered with or without the bail (and the Swiss emblem for that matter, a fact that I find oddly fascinating for whatever reason).

[enki_ck]

Thanks for the additional info.

[Sneider]

Congratulations for sale. Very special! 

[Caranthanus]

That's the best SAK I've seen in a long time.  Congratulations !!!   

 

[jaydar]

Stunning I love it ..... but so much worse I need it

[comis]

I saw this auction ongoing, and am very glad it went into a good home in the end whom really know how to appreciate this piece.  Please do expand more on this knife and pre-30s pieces in your book, and am very much looking forward to the book. 

[CYYL]

I saw this auction ongoing, and am very glad it went into a good home in the end whom really know how to appreciate this piece.  Please do expand more on this knife and pre-30s pieces in your book, and am very much looking forward to the book. 

Agree!That's the most wonderful knife I ever saw. Congrats!

[splico]

please link on this ebay seller?

[greenbear]

Great pics, thanks for sharing