Victorinox retired whole Delemont collection serie?

[Antti Lammi]

I read few places that Vic discontinued whole delemont serie in December but is that true, i can still see those on Victorinox site.


Only Tools Matters

[IMR4198]

I thought the Delemont series was axed at the end of December 2022.  I remember seeing the list on some Spanish you tube video.  Somebody on here probably knows the facts.  Best wishes.  G
 

[Antti Lammi]

I thought the Delemont series was axed at the end of December 2022.  I remember seeing the list on some Spanish you tube video.  Somebody on here probably knows the facts.  Best wishes.  G
 

im not really keeping up how Victorinox discontinue their tools, seems like they are not really announcing it so big or at all they just end production.

[Bunk Tuppins]

The 85mm and 65mm lines are all out of production, as far as I know.  I think the 130mm line is still going.

[Simon_Templar]

The 85mm and 65mm lines are all out of production, as far as I know.  I think the 130mm line is still going.

Looks as if nobody bothered to tell Victorinox, they are still selling the Delemont collection through their website.    Somebody ought to tell them they are headed straight for an injunction from Spain.

[IMR4198]

Backstock, Simon.  Easier to sell them from the warehouse until they are all gone than to bury them with a bulldozer.  Best wishes.  G
 

[Simon_Templar]

Backstock, Simon.  Easier to sell them from the warehouse until they are all gone than to bury them with a bulldozer.  Best wishes.  G
 

Well, then they sure do have a large stock. Every single Delemont SAK is currently available at Vic's website, even exotic ones like the S557 wood.

Cheers,

Simon

[Bunk Tuppins]

Well, then they sure do have a large stock. Every single Delemont SAK is currently available at Vic's website, even exotic ones like the S557 wood.

Cheers,

Simon

  Yes that seems to be nearly true now.  However I seem to remember a few months back nothing was listed there.  It is possible they took some stock back from dealers after the line was discontinued.   I would love to be wrong and find out the 85mm line is still going.

[IMR4198]

    Internet has been down all day.  Maybe I can suggest something.  When a factory closes down, the workers might not have much notice.  They spend their last days completing whatever they can.  When the doors close, there would still be considerable quantities of unassembled items and parts.  Look at some of the videos of the Swiss factories and you can see what I am talking about.  What do you do with them?
     You could recycle to reclaim some money.  You could keep some stock for parts.  There has been considerable labor that has gone into the stock of parts however.  The most economical way is to assemble them.  Now Victorinox has people who do work at home.  For that matter you could farm out work to the laid-off Wenger employees.  Put some assembly jigs and presses at home.  Doesn't take much to put together already finished parts.  The Delemont factory likely had many thousands of pounds of parts ready to assemble.  Victorinox doesn't really waste anything.  It could take years to fully use most of the available parts up.  Remember the tools for assembly are there to relocate to the Swiss cottage industry idea.  It is also much cheaper than keeping a factory open.  Deliver parts.  Pick up finished SAKs.  Naturally there isn't nearly as high volume production that way, but still many hundreds of knives could be assembled by one worker in just one working day.  Adds up when you have several workers.  Sell the knives and recover your investment that way.  Since it is contract piece work, most of the benefits and overhead costs wouldn't likely apply. 
     I'm not saying that is what they are doing, just what would make good business sense.  And money.  I'm sure many thousands of knives are reclaimed from closed out accounts and channels as well.  Best wishes.  G
 

[Simon_Templar]

What you say makes perfect sense and I don't contest any of it, Gary. All I am saying is that there's another conceivable explanation for the ready availability of Delemont SAKs: they might still be in production. Just because some Spanish YouTuber states something and that statement snowballs on the Internet doesn't necessarily mean it's true.

Cheers,

Simon

[IMR4198]

         I did a little snooping around in Le Quotidien Jurassien newspaper.  Carl Elsener's statement at a board meeting was quoted from on December 12, 2023.  He mentioned slightly improved sales for generated revenue of CHF 429 million.  There was mention of the manufacturing sites in Ibach and Delemont.  The Delemont watches were mentioned specifically, but no mention of what was Wenger knives except for one item.  Elsener mentioned they also earn revenue from repair work and licenses of Wenger brand products.  These were not included in the total revenue.  The US market is underperforming, but Elsener had hope that it would improve.  The German and Swiss markets were reported as doing well.  The luggage and pocket knives are doing well in China.  The watches are not. 
        Evidently the Delemont factory is operating, but I am guessing it might just be for watch production.  That is reading between the lines.  Pocket knives were reported to furnish 70% of the company's revenue.  I know better than to believe ANYTHING I read on the internet.  We have several reliable Swiss members here.  Perhaps they can give an authoritative answer to the Delemont factory status.  Would there be any reason for Victorinox to keep the Delemont line of knives in production?  I can't think of any.  Best wishes.  Gary
 

[GArBa]

What you say makes perfect sense and I don't contest any of it, Gary. All I am saying is that there's another conceivable explanation for the ready availability of Delemont SAKs: they might still be in production. Just because some Spanish YouTuber states something and that statement snowballs on the Internet doesn't necessarily mean it's true.

Cheers,

Simon

They aren't. I just downloaded Vic's 2024 catalog, the whole 85mm line is gone. And that Spanish YouTuber has connections...

Scroll in the link below for the 2024 catalogs.

https://ambiente.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/exhibitor-search.detail.html/victorinox-ag.html

[Bunk Tuppins]

They aren't. I just downloaded Vic's 2024 catalog, the whole 85mm line is gone. And that Spanish YouTuber has connections...

Scroll in the link below for the 2024 catalogs.

https://ambiente.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/exhibitor-search.detail.html/victorinox-ag.html

Thanks for this info!  The catalog shows two and three layer 65mm models but no 85mm models.  There are still 130mm models.  So it looks like 85mm is gone.

[Simon_Templar]

They aren't. I just downloaded Vic's 2024 catalog, the whole 85mm line is gone. And that Spanish YouTuber has connections...

Scroll in the link below for the 2024 catalogs.

https://ambiente.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/exhibitor-search.detail.html/victorinox-ag.html

Thanks for the link. I checked it out and am under the impression that Victorinox will only address/present a select few of their products on the Frankfurt fair (there's no mention of the 58 mm line either). I wouldn't consider this conclusive evidence re the alleged discontinuation of the Delemont SAKs.

Edit: Sorry, I only just realised there was a catalogue to download too. The Delemont collection is indeed not mentioned there. Well, I'll agree that's certainly a bad sign.

Hope they will at least re-introduce scissors into the 84 mm models now...

Second edit: Not seeing the CT S and the Spartan Lite in the 2024 catalogue gives me the creeps. At least they are still available on Victorinox' website

[Bunk Tuppins]

I am glad that I picked up most of the 85mm models that interested me last year.  As Simon Templar mentioned the Vic site has lots of them at the moment and so do other online sites like Amazon so there is still time to pick up a few of these vanishing 85s.  I picked up a few extra scales a while back from Victorinox to deal with broken ones down the line.

[Antti Lammi]

It would interesting see Wenger style scissors on Victorinox models.


Only Tools Matters

[IMR4198]

   By the way, thanks very much for link to the new catalog.  I downloaded it of course, GArBa.  I hope you like it here.  Did anybody see the little Victorinox mini-wallet card safe thing?  It was in the SwissCard section.  Best wishes.  Gary (IMR)
 

[marlowe221]

Thanks for the link. I checked it out and am under the impression that Victorinox will only address/present a select few of their products on the Frankfurt fair (there's no mention of the 58 mm line either). I wouldn't consider this conclusive evidence re the alleged discontinuation of the Delemont SAKs.

Edit: Sorry, I only just realised there was a catalogue to download too. The Delemont collection is indeed not mentioned there. Well, I'll agree that's certainly a bad sign.

Hope they will at least re-introduce scissors into the 84 mm models now...

Second edit: Not seeing the CT S and the Spartan Lite in the 2024 catalogue gives me the creeps. At least they are still available on Victorinox' website

The same Spanish YouTuber said that only the CT M is going to remain in production of the Cybertool line.

There are other models too - Tinker Small, Tourist, “Camping” scales, the Sportsman variant without the key ring.  It was quite a lot that was claimed to be discontinued for 2024. I suspect we are still seeing existing stock being sold right now, by Victorinox themselves and other retailers, and that will be it.

[GArBa]

Thank you, in VicSpain YouTube channel there was the catalog link already some days ago but just to the Spanish Version, I can understand it but I figured it would have been better to share the International English edition. In any case I too have all the 85mm I was interested into, actually I am more saddened by the 84mm tourist and tinker small discontinuation (and by the new illogical structure of the catalog itself)

[IMR4198]

   I agree that the new catalog is probably the worst laid out of any Victorinox catalog yet.  Things have been categorized according to usage.  Like the Leatherman catalog.  Just list them from smallest to biggest and be done with it.  What one person uses for everyday carry is another's outdoor use. 
   There are still a few old Wenger-type remnants.  Some 65mm.  One called Wenger.  Victorinox owns the trademark so they could put Wenger on anything they choose.  No 85mm.  No 74mm, at least none that I could find.  The 74s were nice carry tools for someone wanting something more substantial than a 58mm, but smaller than a full-sized pocket bulger. 
   No Companion in a reasonably priced edition (Cellidor).  Just the rather expensive (and I suspect easily scuffed up) city editions.  A SAK with part of the upholstery missing and moth-eaten gaps looks sad.  Best wishes.  G
 

[IMR4198]

    While I'm at it I might as well say that the new 2024 Vic catalog sounds like the ad copy is all AI generated.  Insipid, flowery, and annoying about covers it, I think.  G
 

[Bunk Tuppins]

I agree the catalog organization is pretty bad.  What were they thinking?  Nevertheless I confess to having some pleasure scrolling through the catalog.  Who doesn't like looking at lush photo layouts of Swiss Army Knives and multi-tools?

[Antti Lammi]

Does Victorinox ever showed numbers for selled tools, does it left only most selled tools. Its real shame that they stopped Delemont, now i need to find those, mostly for scissors and scales, maybe some bigger ones.


Only Tools Matters

[IMR4198]

    Definitely the time to buy Delemont, if you want some.  Just looking at FleaBay, I have been seeing some really ridiculous prices for Wenger knives.  I doubt that demand will support that sort of wishful pricing.  However, it does indicate that there is upward pressure on discontinued SAKs. 
     I'm sure that the execs at Victorinox know precisely how many and what types of knives are selling best.  It is safe to say that discontinued models would reflect lower sales volume.  The female buyer is potentially a huge market and hasn't been reached yet.  Victorinox is trying with their pastel versions.  Will they succeed?  I'm afraid that the ladies will say that they are pretty and still not buy many.  Wenger tried this market years ago, and it was a failure.  I might post a photo.  It seems to me that the 74 to 85mm range would be more attractive, but I could be wrong.  Best wishes.  G
 

1270x1650_Wenger 1983 US Catalog - Pg 11.jpg (Filesize: 209.8 KB)

[Antti Lammi]

I have some older Wengers and i should really get new version, shame that never produced PocketGrip, i would love to get one.


Only Tools Matters

[Etherealicer]

For that matter you could farm out work to the laid-off Wenger employees.  Put some assembly jigs and presses at home.  Doesn't take much to put together already finished parts.

Highly doubt this is happening as this is quite costly by Swiss laws. Not only would you have to compensate those employees at a higher rate (if you are paid by the hour, you have to compensate them for potential sick days and holidays). The employer is also responsible for the work place (at home or not) and that includes safety and insurance.

It is why pretty much only office workers work from home and usually by choice (they still have a workspace at the company, but can choose to work from home. That way, the employer does not have to pay for the work-space at home).

I do not have any insight in what is going on. Just giving my thought, what makes sense by Swiss law. But I think it more likely to have the current production crew to assemble the leftovers during breaks in current production.

[IMR4198]

    I didn't just make up the home working arrangement.  That was in one of Victorinox's videos.  They did it during one of the work slow downs.  The video showed a woman with a assembly jig at a table in her home putting the red knives together.  Now are they doing it for the for Delemont models?  I have no way of knowing. 
    Since it seems you might be a Swiss citizen, how about some definitive information about what really is happening in Delemont?  That might be better than both of us sitting around guessing.  Best wishes.  G
 

[Huntsman]

Hi Team,

Please check out this response in the Wiki thread and reply there if you have some comments.

https://forum.multitool.org/index.php?topic=68075.msg2466344#msg2466344

[swiss army boy]

I remember when it was big news when they retired them but you can still find them on amazon

[GArBa]

There is a difference between retired and discontinued. 85mm delemonts are discontinued (no longer in catalog and no longer manufactured) but not yet retired. Victorinox is still selling them new as they have to sell out the stock. It always happens when they discontinue a model, in this case is likely that on the "non-enthusiast" market few people would select a 85mm delemont over its equivalent and usually cheaper 91mm, so the stock is likely taking some time to dry up.