1980's Victorinox Director

This one is for quite some time in my collection and I must say that this steel patterned Guilloché design looks classy. Since I started pulling my 74mm collection out of the display cabinets, I started taking a second look at the bottom shelf... Too bad these beauties are stuffed in a place I can't see them. Maybe that's why I decided to give them some attention on the blog... The steel Guilloché design was a more select line, like the Deluxe Enameled 58 mm line, for the more, let's say upper class people... I was able to find this one New In Box for a very low price. It was the first victorinox knife I ever saw with this pattern and I loved it instantly... Victorinox released a list with all the special editions and the corresponding release dates on it, and that's why I was able to find out when they were made. According to this list, Victorinox produced this particular design from 1982 till 1985. Other patterns, as the one with two stripes in the middle, were made till 2006, but they all started production on the same year, 1982. Basically this knife's an Executive, but since they made a separate line with these steel scales they renamed it to the Director. Many collectors love this knife due to its short production "life" and the more durable steel scales.

Merry Christmas

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1970's Victorinox Executive

The 74mm line isn't the most appreciated one, but offers a great size to weight ratio. Often the 58mm blade is just too small for the task at hand, but the 84/91mm knives are just too bulky or heavy, so the 74mm offers a great compromise. With only  a maximum of two layers, the 74mm line is also the one with the least models available. This one was bought as a "damaged" item, but after some repair it came out pretty good. Since the few models out there, it wasn't hard to find out which one it is... There isn't much known of the tool changes within these knives, but some of the tools changed around the same period as the 91mm knives, like the scissors... These changed from single spring with screw joint to double spring around 1975. If you look at the 1970's catalogs, you can see that this particular model first showed up early 1970 and since after 1975 the scissors changed, this one wasn't too difficult to figure out... This Victorinox Executive must've been made around the early 70's. A nice find for a few Euros...

Below you can clearly see the single spring in the scissors and the keychain-ring. This piece comes out of an early 1970's catalog...

Blue, bluer, bluest...

This is more a request than a post you've become used to... A few weeks ago I noticed that someone posted a picture of all the Translucent shades available, on the Victorinox Facebook page. I knew that there were orange, ruby, onyx, silvertech, sapphire and emerald translucent scales in 91mm knives, but I wasn't aware that brown and the lighter blue shade existed... So, that's that?.... Nope, when I started looking for the blue translucent scales with my regular seller my wife (once again) noticed three different shades of blue. I bought them immediately and here we are. Is there a possibility that translucent scales wear off in UV-light? Or was there a change of material/manufacturing method over the years? I don't know if you can see the different shades on the pictures, but there is a clear difference. Try to look at the structure you can see through the clear plastic. A is the darkest one, the more known one.... Sapphire... B is the mysterious one. C is the lightest shade, also the second I found on the picture I mentioned on Facebook.

Here's my Translucent collection so far... The Onyx ones are hard to find, and yet they are still mentioned in the 2013 catalog... strange... 

Victorinox Alox MiniChamp 0.6381.20

When this one showed up on the multitool.org forum, everyone loved it. Alox is and will always be far more attractive than cellidor and since Victorinox had only released a few limited Minichamps with Alox scales, this was an opportunity to complete the collection. They come in three different colours, red, silver and black. I've seen them all in the Flagship store in Dusseldorf and must say that red pops out as the more "classic" Alox colour (see red Alox and the old cross). This little 58mm toolbox is stunning... It contains tons of tools in a size that's hardly noticeable thanks to the small size (58mm) and weight (40grams). Prices may vary around 40 Euro and they will be available from late 2013...