2014 Damascus

[jaydar]

A friend picked me one of these from the new flagship store in Zurich I think they could have been a little more adventurous but still









Not seen it in the flesh yet ..... they should have gone alox

[ebarberena]

Whats the tool layout? It looks like a spartan, Two layers with awl.

[jaydar]

Whats the tool layout? It looks like a spartan, Two layers with awl.

I belive it is .... although to be fair its a very expensive Spartan

[Etherealicer]

A friend picked me one of these from the new flagship store in Zurich I think they could have been a little more adventurous but still

That the store on Bahnhofstrasse / Rennweg? So its finally open?

[Blade runner]

That 's a bad news, was expecting a Farmer..

[coSAK]

A Spartan? WTF?
There are already so many variations of the Spartan.

The Farmer would be a much better choice. Or even better the Harvester.
Or the Compact.

But the f*****g Spartan? 

[tosh]

Vic' adventurous  LMAO


Well, what can I say that's victorinox for you!! I'm sorry to say

To hell with what we the consumer wants, it's what they can maximise profits on or didn't you know!!


Vic obviously had extra blades stamped out when they churned out the Carl Elsener Damascus Explorer 

[microbe]

They took down the amount of knives in the run to 5000, as last year it was 7000. I guess they got quite some left on the shelves from the LE Explorer, which IMHO is way better tooled then this Spartan.

[microbe]

Vic' adventurous  LMAO


Well, what can I say that's victorinox for you!! I'm sorry to say

To hell with what we the consumer wants, it's what they can maximise profits on or didn't you know!!


Vic obviously had extra blades stamped out when they churned out the Carl Elsener Damascus Explorer 

The blades clearly have a different pattern this time, all blades on the explorer are similar, with stripes at the tip. This is a different Damasteel pattern.

[tosh]

Vic' adventurous  LMAO


Well, what can I say that's victorinox for you!! I'm sorry to say

To hell with what we the consumer wants, it's what they can maximise profits on or didn't you know!!


Vic obviously had extra blades stamped out when they churned out the Carl Elsener Damascus Explorer 

The blades clearly have a different pattern this time, all blades on the explorer are similar, with stripes at the tip. This is a different Damasteel pattern.

It was said tongue in cheek!! 

[jaydar]

I bet its not marketed as a spartan ..... it will be "The modern version of the original officer knife" in honour of the 130 year anniversary.

Damascus Farmer 2015 please .... I will have a look at the 2014 on Wednesday then make a decision on keeping it.

Better news according to the guy who got it for me there is a build your own knife workshop with 6 different knifes to make .....

 

[ColoSwiss]

That is such a bland (blah?) knife I'm not sure I'm going to pick one up.

[jaydar]

Picked up the knife today and my review

Its OK .......

Bit more detail

The scales are Yew and  have been Varnished /Waxed / stained (It smells like a newly treated fence) so not stabilized wood I assume-

The emblem is well fitted and the scales are attached and finished well ........ the blade is very nice I just wish it was not attached to this most boring of all models.

Would I recommend it .......

if you have all the others yes .....

if its just for display sure why not the blade is pretty

As an EDC ......NO

As an investment ...... I think these will be available for a good long time and maybe even be discounted in the future

Will I keep it .......

Maybe  ..... the blade is very pretty

[chivaceae]

I find the Victorinox models with damasteel (damascus) blades way too expensive, for only having the main blade in that steel. I am tempted to find me a knife maker that can make me some 3 blades (93 mm SAK) from a Devin Thomas SS damascus billet I have, and then swap them in some of my alox knives (me doing the conversion with pivots). I figure it might be possible to have it done at or under the cost of a single factory damasteel SAK. 

[Syph007]

I think damasteel blades should only be deployed on alox models.  Putting them on the regular ones just doenst seem right to me.

Ive got 2 damasteel customs coming up in a couple months.  A guy is having the blades made and sent to me for building into 2 custom alox jobs.  Im excited to put those together.  I still have the chunk of damasteel I bought ages ago and have been too scared to cut it up and ruin it.

As for costs, I paid $200 CAD for a piece of Damasteel large enough to make 6 blades.  Heat treating a single blade is $10.  As for how much work it takes to cut and grind the blades, I dunno.  Probably a couple hours if you are practiced at it, which I am not yet.

[Etherealicer]

I find the Victorinox models with damasteel (damascus) blades way too expensive, for only having the main blade in that steel. I am tempted to find me a knife maker that can make me some 3 blades (93 mm SAK) from a Devin Thomas SS damascus billet I have, and then swap them in some of my alox knives (me doing the conversion with pivots). I figure it might be possible to have it done at or under the cost of a single factory damasteel SAK. 

As far as I can tell he's a CEO/Partner in a company in Delemont that deals with "Luxury Goods & Jewelry", watches and so. And as a few of the staff there came from Wenger Watches it's possibly a daughter company something similar.

Thanks Nikola

I'm glad to hear that - it sounds as if it's a subsidiary to Victorinox?
Learn something new every day.

Like Beery - I'm hungry to learn more about Wenger. I wonder if Vic plans to open a museum in ibach as a tribute. I really would love to see all the prototypes that never made it into production. Given how radical some of Wengers designs were I bet there were many many weird and wonderful concepts created.

Without sounding pathetic I still mourn for Wenger, I really wish I had got involved with MT'o from the beginning and discovered Wenger as we now  know it. I would have quite possibly made the journey over to see them.

Considering how poor the Victorinox Museum in Brunnen is, I have to say I seriously doubt that.
Also when I was at Wenger, they had a small cabinet where they showed some out of production SAK but nothing really exciting or special (apart from that white beauty below, which of course is not really a Wenger product), so I don't even know if there are prototypes and stuff around.
That said I would definitively visit a Wenger Tribute Museum

(Image removed from quote.)

Wow, the white Ranger is one of its kind!

Made by Andre Perret
(Image removed from quote.)

[jaydar]

now this is a limited edition damascus

http://instagram.com/p/rupK9JHWPS/

[comis]

I bet its not marketed as a spartan ..... it will be "The modern version of the original officer knife" in honour of the 130 year anniversary.

Damascus Farmer 2015 please .... I will have a look at the 2014 on Wednesday then make a decision on keeping it.

Better news according to the guy who got it for me there is a build your own knife workshop with 6 different knifes to make .....

 

I too wish for a 2015 Damacus Farmer, it's about time!

now this is a limited edition damascus

http://instagram.com/p/rupK9JHWPS/

That indeed is pretty rare, I have seen the one with the scale but not with Damascus blade.

[Hyatt181]

 I am thinking of buying one of the price isn't too crazy to use the blade. But would love to have some blades made in 93mm.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[victor7000]

I like this one very much. OK it's only a Spartan but beside this it looks great!

More info and pics on my blog

[Steinar]

Some people say plain and boring, I say classic and elegant. 

I liked the look of this one, so I have ordered it.

[user24]

The damascus models never appealed to me because the other tools are just normal steel. Now a black alox damascus solo I could go for. Or better a pioneer settler if the small blade was damascus too.

[HarleyXJGuy]

Wait lets focus on the important bit here.

There was some from of limited Explorer last year? 

[ebarberena]

Wait lets focus on the important bit here.

There was some from of limited Explorer last year? 

There have been limited Damascus models every year since 2010

2010 Pioneer (very hard to find, these sold for $960 back in February 2013: http://www.vicfan.com/2013/02/victorinox-limited-edition-2010-damascus-pioneer-2/)
2011 Climber  (you can get one here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Victorinox-Climber-Limited-Edition-2011-Damast-Damask-Damascus-Ebony-1-3701-J11-/371187826868?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_77&hash=item566c84c0b4)
2012 OH Trekker (you can get one at list price here: http://www.swissknifeshop.com/swiss-army-damascus-limited-edition-2012-by-victorinox)
2013 Explores (you can get one on sale here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SWISS-ARMY-1-6701-J13-LIMITED-EDITION-DAMASCUS-EXPLORER-VICTORINOX-KNIFE-/400775588269?pt=Collectible_Knives&hash=item5d501629ad)
2014 Spartan

[HarleyXJGuy]

Wait lets focus on the important bit here.

There was some from of limited Explorer last year? 

There have been limited Damascus models every year since 2010

2010 Pioneer
2011 Climber
2012 OH Trekker
2013 Explores (you can get one on sale here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SWISS-ARMY-1-6701-J13-LIMITED-EDITION-DAMASCUS-EXPLORER-VICTORINOX-KNIFE-/400775588269?pt=Collectible_Knives&hash=item5d501629ad)
2014 Spartan

HAHA!!!! $300 as if.

Have not looked at the Ebay link since i am at work but saw one at a knife shop website.

[ebarberena]

Wait lets focus on the important bit here.

There was some from of limited Explorer last year? 

There have been limited Damascus models every year since 2010

2010 Pioneer
2011 Climber
2012 OH Trekker
2013 Explores (you can get one on sale here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-SWISS-ARMY-1-6701-J13-LIMITED-EDITION-DAMASCUS-EXPLORER-VICTORINOX-KNIFE-/400775588269?pt=Collectible_Knives&hash=item5d501629ad)
2014 Spartan

HAHA!!!! $300 as if.

Have not looked at the Ebay link since i am at work but saw one at a knife shop website.

Here you are:

2010 Pioneer sold on eBay for US$960 on Feb 2013
2011 Climber currently been offered for US$815 on eBay
2012 OH Trekker currently been offered for US$400 (list price) at Swiss Knife Shop
2013 Explores currently been offered for US$184 (list price $300) on eBay
2014 Spartan available in Mexico for around US$300 including 16% VAT

[HarleyXJGuy]

Must be a collector thing because they are not that nice to me.

I have no problem paying a lot of money for a knife if it is the right one. Syph SAK, Sprint Spyderco, Sebenza etc. For a damascus bladed wood handle SAK not so much.

Not to mention a number of members right here can make a wood handle SAK that looks way better for way less.

[jazzbass]

Tim (felinevet) - any idea if these will be available from US distributors or do I need to order one from Europe?