Bump from the past....
Someone on Reddit asked about a date for a mid 80s knife and only posted the front tang stamp. Based on that I knew it was an 83-86 knife, but was questioned about that because apparently the info I had isn't on SAKWiki. Posting any detailed info there is a waste, so I thought I'd update this thread. I thought this was documented info but I don't see it on the SAKWiki page, so I took a couple crappy iPhone pics real quick to illustrate.
All of these are variations of the VSSR front stamp.
Stamp A: Wide VSSR/VaOS (1957-1964-ish). This is the earliest VSSR front stamp starting back in the rivetted scale days. The word "SWITZERLAND" in this stamp is 10.5mm wide. Earlier version of this stamp are on unpolished tangs (indicating to me that the blade was hand polished after assembly), while later versions are polished, indicating blade polishing before assembly. I **think** the picture on the SAKWiki tang stamp page for VSSR/VaOS is this one but I can't tell 100%.
Stamp B: Narrow VSSR/VaOS (1964-ish-1973). This is the second version of the VSSR/VaOS stamp. Almost the same as Stamp A except the VSSR is noticeably narrower (Switzerland is 9.5mm wide vs 10.5mm). The 1966 date on this is an educated guess; about half the knives from the 1961-1968 "small awl and shackle" era are Stamp A and the other half are Stamp B, so I split the difference. If anyone has a better date on this I'd love to hear it. BTW, I've long speculated that the narrows stamp is really the 84mm stamp, and that when the dies wore out instead of ordering different ones for the 91mm and 84mm lines that just started using the same (narrower) stamp for both. Pure speculation on my part.
Stamp C. Narrow VSSR/Blank (1973-1976). This one is one SAKWiki. Not pictured here because its been a long week and I totally forgot to photograph it. As far as I can tell, the front stamp here is the same as Stamp B (narrow VSSR).
Stamp D: Narrow VSSR/OS (1976-1983). Here the front stamp is the same as Stamp B and C, but the back is now "Officier Suisse" with Crossbox and Cross conjoined. This version is not on SakWiki. The VSSR/OS pictured there is Stamp E.
Stamp E: Fine VSSR/OS (1983-1986). This is the stamp pictured on SAKWiki. The differences between VSSR in Stamps D and E are subtle, but there. Most notably, Stamp D is stamped really, really heavy (As are stamps B and C, typically). Also, in most cases in Stamp D the "C" and "T" in "Victorinox" will be linked, as will the "TZ" in "Switzerland". Stamp E is stamped with a lot finer detail - almost like its engraved - and the precision on the letters is
significantly higher. The C and T are not linked, neither are the T and Z in Switzerland. The letters in Stamp E have clearly discernible serifs on them, whereas I still debate if the letters on Stamps B, C, and D are seriffed at all. Font-wise, the As and Ws appear to be distinct between the two, with Stamp E "A"s being wider. Finally, the "X" in Victorinox seems to start to the left of the "D" in Switzerland in the earlier stamps, but is in line or slightly to the right of the D in Stamp E.
This picture shows the difference between Stamps D and E side-by-side:
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