Vintage Victorinox Fisherman

My second one with bail, but this time in the more famous 91mm size and with toothpick and tweezers. This one was advertised on Ebay as a vintage 91mm model, but after some research, I stumbled upon a 1967 catalog on SakWiki in wich this configuration was promoted as the "Fisherman". Later on this name would stay the same, but the multi purpose hook was added. Normally I start looking at the tools to find out when it was made, but with this one it was fairly easy to determine its age thanks to the catalog. On the other hand, it's always possible that this particular knife was produced before the catalog date, so let's take a look at the tools...

Age - marks :

* Cellidor scales : These scales were introduced in 1937. Before 1937 the scales were made from fibre, and had no mirror polish. This knife has cellidor scales!

* Can opener : This type can opener is the more recent one with only one difference. It has a PAT - marking on it wich stands for Patented. This one is introduced in 1951 and continued till 1970.

* REAMER : This newer type reamer without the sewing eye was used from 1961 till 1985.

* Small blade : The small blade has a clip point. These blades were used till 1973.

* Cap lifter : The cap lifter, here used, with sharpened curve, without the 90 degree lock, was manufactured from 1951 till 1972.

* Blade stamp : The main blade stamp says VICTORIA officier suisse with the crossbow in the middle. On the back it says Victorinox Switzerland Stainless Rostfrei. The back stamp was used from 1952 and the front one from 1943

* Bail / keyring : The bail was used from 1902 till 1968.

* Scissors : This type of scissors with the single spring and screw joint was made from 1902 till 1975.

Conclusion :

This knife, according to the tools, should be made between 1961 and 1968, since the reamer is the "newest" tool in this knife (from 1961) and the bail the oldest (till 1968). This is probably one of the last knives with a bail, since it was discontinued in 1968 and yet popped up in a 1967 catalog. I would say that, if you look at the catalog, the knife was offered from 1967 till the late 60's, since the 70's catalog doesn't show the bail... This knife is in pretty good shape and only had one flaw... The small clip point blade was sanded as a spear-pointed one, but after some adjustments i reshaped it to the original one...

Trip to France (Cote d'Azur)

A new trip means new knives, at least for me... My wife took the gps and added three new addresses for some random coutelleries (knife-shops) and souvenir shops. In Monaco I found the Spartan with the Cote d'Azur scales and in Nice I stumbled upon 2 of the five limited "Traces" classics. In Cannes, after a lot of searching, I found an old knife shop with some nice custom knives, but a limited Victorinox offer. When he opened the Victorinox display box, I noticed a rather unusual box with the France 98 - world cup logo. This limited Spartan with the France 98 mascotte was offered during the world cup "hype". I didn't hesitate and bought it for a rather high price (36 Euro). Again a trip I won't forget!

Victorinox Tourist 1940's

I found this one on Ebay in a lot of three vintage knives. Two of them, sadly the oldest ones, had damaged tools. The Tourist had a broken tip on both the main and the small blade. Beneath this text you can see how I managed to grind away the broken edge. People often get discouraged when they see a knife with small defects, but if you're handy, you can fix almost everything. If you forget about the blade tips, this knife looks actually pretty good for something over 60 years old. I love the exposed rivets and the older type reamer. I have no idea why they changed the exposed rivets, because this is to mho the most beautiful design ever! The liners and even small spacer at the small blade are made of aluminum. I believe they did this due to the fact that in the 1940's all the copper was used for the WW2 weapons-industry. The rather rare can-opener, used from 1946 to 1951, makes this a real collectable knife!

BEFORE

AFTER

Age - marks :

* Cellidor scales : These scales were introduced in 1937. Before 1937 the scales were made from fibre, and had no mirror polish. This knife has cellidor scales!

* Can opener : This type can opener is the second oldest one and wasn't used for a long time. This type was used from 1946 to 1951 and the small time window makes this a rather rare and collectable knife.

* REAMER : This older type reamer was used till 1961 and a very distinctive age-mark for any Victorinox.

* Small blade : The small blade has a clip point. These blades were used till 1973.

* Cap lifter : The cap lifter, here used, without the wire stripper and with longer flathead screwdriver was used from 1942 to 1951.
* Blade stamp : The main blade stamp says ARMEE SUISSE. On the back it says VICTORIA with the crossbow in the middle. These stamps were used from the early thirties (1932) till 1948. 

Conclusion :

When I look at all the tools, materials and stampings, this knife should be made arround mid 40's. The can opener and cap lifter are the two tools with the smallest time window, from 1946 to 1951. The blade stamp narrows it down to 1948. The knife should be made from 1946 till 1948, which makes this a pretty accurate time window for such an old item...