The 13th limited edition club knife of the “Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Collectors Society” (VSAKCS) is an Explorer model commemorating Carl Elsener, Sr. This 2013 edition is limited to 100 pieces and has two metal inlays.
Some pictures below show it together with the Damascus Explorer from 2013 also dedicated to Mr. Carl Elsener, Sr.
Since 1998 Victorinox has released a climber serie called Kantonsmesser. Nearly each year one or two climber models with wooden scales were produced. Each year the knife is dedicated to one of the 26 Swiss Canton. The wooden scales carry different geometric patterns. The blade is laser cutted with a fancy pattern and the Canton’s crest is etched on it. It’s a limited serie of only 100 pieces and each knife is numbered. The knife comes in a nice wooden box.
This year the knife is dedicated to the Swiss Canton of Vaud. It’s a Canton in the french speaking part of Switzerland.
This year they changed a few details on the blades cutting and etching.
The laser cutting of the rounded lines is a tiny bit wider, while the cutting of the cross and “arrow” parts are a tiny bit narrower. This results in a more balanced overall look.
The picture below shows a comparison between a blade of an earlier edition (top) and the new edition (bottom).
On the backside of the blade this year the same cantons’ crest as on the front side is etched. The earlier editions have the Victorinox Logo etched on the backside as showed in the second picture below.
In December 2013 Victorinox launched a new collector’s knife. To honor the memory of Mr. Carl Elsener senior, who died this summer, Victorinox choosed for the this year’s Damascus edition the Explorer model.
The main blade is made of Damascus steel (Damasteel). The handle is made of oak wood and Mr. Elsener Sr.’s signature is laser engraved on the front scale. The oak wood’s grain, gives each knife a unique look.
This edition is limited to 7000 pieces. Each knife is serial numbered on the liner behind the corkskrew.
On some knives (I saw only a few and heard from other collectors) the edges of the wood scales are a bit rough. If the knife is used as an every day user, the edges should be sanded a bit to make the handle smooth. But if this knife is intended as a shelf queen, who cares.
More Info: Press release from Victorinox (German, pdf)
In October 2013 Wenger released a Limited Edition set called “UNITED WOODS“. It’s limited to 2013 sets worldwide and contains six knives.
Five of the knives have scales made of different types of wood. Each wood represents one of the five major continents of the world. The sixth knife has red evo scales and represents Wengers’s home, the Swiss canton Jura.
The set comes in a nice wooden box. An included book contains info about Wenger, the knives and the wood used for the scales.
The Box and the Book (click on the images to enlarge and to see all)
Europe Evolution 17, Olive wood
America Ranger 60, Maple wood
Oceania Ranger 55, Jarrah wood
Asia Nail Clip 580, Makassar wood
Africa Evolution 14, Thuya wood
Delémont Evo S557, Wenger Switzerland/Jura
Info about this Limited Edition Set see also Limited Edition Flyer.
In August 2013 Victorinox launched a Limited Edition called “Black Ice“. This edition consists of a Classic, a Spartan and a Trekker.
The tools of these three knives carry a black coating. The coating is not black but somewhat of a dark gray. It’s similar to the coating used on the handle of the multitool Spirit Road Tour edition and on some of Victorinox watches.
The handles from Classic and Spartan are regular cellidor scales in camo design. The Trekker carries Nylon camo scales.
Each knife has an orange lanyard attached to the ring and the Spartan and the Trekker carries a tweezers with an orange head.
It’s a quite small serie of 2’000 Classic, 1’723 Spartan and 1’000 Trekker and was sold out very fast after the launch.
