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... 

Victorinox Flagship store Düsseldorf

About a month ago, C. Meyer, the Brand communications manager of Germany and Austria, contacted me with a, let's call it a very kind E-mail, regarding my blog. He invited me in the Flagship store in Düsseldorf to experience the personal knife assembly... I wanted to see the shop, ever since someone told me it was so huge, so this was actually a nice push in the back to go... I contacted Josef Hegemann, the shop manager, made an appointment, and after some mails regarding the new Commemorative Damascus Explorer everything went fast...

Victorinox Flagship Store Düsseldorf

Königsallee 88, 40212 Düsseldorf, Germany

Tel.: +49 211 54473450

Opening hours:

Mo - Sa: 10.00 - 19.00 hrs

I was used to the "smaller" sized shops, but when I saw the huge front of this one, I was pretty curious for the interior... Once inside I noticed the wide array of knives. The largest part of the shop is clothes, perfumes, watches and travel bags, but the knife part is definitely worth mentioning. They use the same wall-display as every other Victorinox shop, but add a nice "personal assembly" area to the knife-part. Josef Hegemann, the shop manager gave me a warm welcome and pointed me to their assembly-specialist. This lovely woman told me step by step how to add every tool, spring and rivet. After a first mistake (my mistake), my "guide" offered me to try it a second time, and this time with success... This shows once more the Swiss perfectionism you find in every knife... After the kind explanation and engraving of my "personal companion" I took some time to look around. I bought the new Minichamp in red Alox and I was very tempted by the Cheese knife with cow horn handles, but with a price tag of 230 Euro, I had to make a choice and I'm still waiting for the Damascus Explorer, so... Even after the knife assembly,they offered me a nice giftbag, filled with books and a Düsseldorf Spartan. This shop is certainly worth the visit! If you're a knife collector, this shop offers more than enough to keep you busy while your wife tries out every garment out there... :) 

In case you guys should read this... Thank you for this great experience and warm welcome! This is how every shop should be!

Victorinox 1902/03 model nr. 235

Here's a piece of history...  I love old, VERY old Victorinox knives. These knives bring me closer to the roots and show how a pocket knife of over 100 years old (antique) still works like if it was made yesterday. That's the power of a Victorinox! When I saw this one for sale on Ebay, I was afraid for the final bid. This knife is a real collectable, since they didn't use stainless steel back then and were more fragile than the more recent ones. These knives were also very expensive! The guy who helped me with my Spartan construction in Brunnen, told me that the old Victorinox knives costed a fortune back then. They were completely hand made and prices could compare to 200 Euro these days. That's why they used them till they gave up. A lot of these knives died of extensive use and that's why they are made... To make a long story short... I was very lucky to find this one... Just to give you an idea... In 1909 Victorinox consisted of 22 employees  and let's say that they produced a few hundred knives for each model, depending on sales... That means that my knife is pretty scarce right now... Hehe...I can't hide it... I'm pretty proud about this one...

UPDATE : Wellllll, my wife took a second look at the knife and the 1903 catalog simultaneously... She noticed that the scissors are on the wrong side compared to the one in the catalog. That makes age dating a bit more difficult, but.... hold on.... Scissors, wood saw, and other "special" tools were integrated in 1902. That makes this knife an early prototype, made in 1902 and was redesigned in 1903, or it was an original 1903 design, but repaired afterwards with a wrong setup. On the other hand this might be a problem, since the spring wouldn't work 100% when you change directions... Pfffff.... This is a difficult one... My final tought would be .... manufactured between 1902 and 1903....

When I saw that the final bid ended far within a reasonable price, I took my chance and went for a "Sniper" bid in the last 10 seconds... At first glance it looked ok, but when it arrived I was a bit disappointed. The scales had some "gaps" between the liners and some tools were more sharpened then I expected. I did a great job (even if I say so myself) on the restoration, replaced the spring for the scissors, removed the dirt inside the tools and went for a complete lubrication. I'm not gonna lie... It still looks old and (ab)USED, but that gives it a certain charm... I could remove the rivets and rebuild it with donor-parts, but that would damage the originality... About the age... Almost all the tools are used in the early 1900's and since I found the knife in the 1902 Elsener Catalog, this was an easy one. Back then you could choose between a knife with or without the Victorinox shield. The shield costed a bit extra. This one showed up as model nr. 235 and is more recently named the Traveller. The Traveller is discontinued since with the invention of the parcel hook, the Climber was born... One thing was a bit off on this knife... I've never seen Elsener Schwyz stamped in the large flathead screwdriver before... Anyway I love this knife and within the next few weeks, It will get a nice lucite display so time won't have anymore effect on it!

Victorinox Signature 0.6225.T

I already discussed the Signature Lite, so this one isn't very different, except for the missing Led-light. I can't remember exactly which documentary, but in one, Mr. Carl Elsener said that he likes to carry the Signature and that he already signed a lot of important contracts with it. Coincidence wants that with my recent factory visit, Mr. Wyss gave my wife and me a Signature as a gift. I'm honestly afraid to use it, because it means a lot to me and this was one of the few knives, missing in my collection. One thing that I liked very much about this knife was that it contains one scale tool (tweezers) and that the other tool is separately included in the box, since one scale has the pressurized ballpoint included. This knife is based on the 58mm Classic design and has actually the name Signature 2. The original Signature had a removable pen and that gave some problems with handling due to the small size. The original one isn't manufactured anymore... 

1990's Victorinox Secretary

This smooth Alox 84mm knife was designed for the lighter desk-tasks and came in beautiful red smooth scales. There were three different colours available, red, silver and blue. The red one was discontinued in 1999 and was first developed in the late sixties, early seventies, but with a Victoria or Elinox blade stamp. Mine has the more recent Victorinox Swizerland Stainless Rostfrei. This stamp was used from 1975 till 2005, but since the white Victorinox shield popped up in the eighties (SMICO catalog), this one should be from the late eighties, or even nineties... None of these designs had the keychain-ring. This is my first smooth alox Secretary with the Victorinox shield and I was able to buy this one in near mint condition. All it took was some warm water and soap to clean it...