COLLECTION: Victorinox Recruit Serrated Blade 84mm (1990s)

Here's a rare and highly collectible (but fairly modern) SAK - the 84mm Recruit with fully serrated blade.  Victorinox has released several versions of their popular knives with a serrated main blade like the Spartan.  There are sometimes a few listed on ebay and if you're lucky, you can own one.  I got this as part of a SAK lot I purchased.  I almost listed it in ebay without knowing its value! Good thing I like to research before selling or trading anything.

References:
SmartKnives - Recruit Serrated
Sakwiki - Recruit

COLLECTION: Victorinox Princess 58mm (1970s)

Victorinox had a lot more 58mm models before compared to what they're producing now.  Many models have been discontinued due to various reasons and one of them is the Victorinox Princess.

The Victorinox Princess is a 58mm, one-layer, two-tools model and no scale tools.  It consists of of a main blade and a nail file with a nail cleaner tip.  It is one of the thinnest and smallest model.  The only thinner option is the Victorinox Pocket Pal which is also a rare piece. Most of them were released with key ring attachment points but some where released without them which makes them rarer.

According to sakwiki.com, this model is a rare piece.  The current alternative model is the Victorinox Escort which is also a single layer SAK with two tools but with scale tools included.

This particular model is very old, from the tang stamp "Victoria" with crossbow, it was no released no later than 1970.  This tang stamp was used from 1943-1970.

References:

www.sakwiki.com

Victorinox 1970s Catalog
Victorinox Tang Stamps 1884-2014

COLLECTION: Victorinox Classic Greece National Flag 58mm (2000s)

Every year at the 25th of March, Greece celebrates the anniversary of the declaration of the start of Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Empire, in 1821. The Greek War of Independence was waged between 1821 to 1832 and resulted to the successful independence of Greece from the Ottoman Empire.

The flag of Greece is officially recognized as a national symbol.  It is rectangular flag with an aspect ratio of 2:3 and has 9 equal horizontal stripes of alternating blue and white.  There is a blue square in the upper left corner which has a white cross in the center.  The white cross symbolizes the Eastern Orthodox Christianity which is the established religion for the Greek people of Greece and Cyprus.  It was officially adopted by the First National Assembly at Epidaurus on 13 January 1822.

You can buy this SAK from www.voyager-shop.gr.

COLLECTION: Victorinox Windsor 74mm (1970s)

The 74mm model line up is another interesting sub-collection that I want to pursue more seriously as I complete my 84mm collection.  For this post, I present to you the Victorinox Windsor.  This is a single layer-74mm SAK with machined Stainless Steel scales that have the same tool set as the Ambassador but without the scale tools.

This particular model in my collection is from the 1970s as evident in the single leaf spring scissors.  The $9.60 price was quite expensive for a 74mm model considering it was more expensive than the 91mm Alox Sturdy Boy (aka Pioneer) which was only $5.70!

It was available in the sales catalogs until the 1980s but was most probably discontinued during the 1990s.

From a Victorinox 1970s catalog

References:
Victorinox 1970s Catalog
www.sakwiki.com

COLLECTION: Victorinox Jumpmaster 111mm (2000s)

The Victorinox Jumpmaster is a four-layer liner locking SAK.  It is one of the precursor models of the future IWA Knife of the Year winner - the Rescue Tool.  It has a large linear locking main blade, belt cutter, wood saw, can opener with small screwdriver, bottle opener with large screwdriver, reamer, philips screwdriver and the scale tools.

It's the first SAK together with the Fireman (corkscrew instead of philips screwdriver in the back layer) to include both the belt cutter and wood saw.

REFERENCE: 58mm vs 65mm Classic, Esquire, Evo 81 Comparison

For those wondering what's the difference between the SAK key chain tools - this is a quick comparison of the key chain Swiss army knives - the Victorinox Classic, Wenger Esquire and Wenger Evo 81.

The Main blade:

The Nail file:

The Scissors:

All the tools are larger on the Wengers compared to the Victorinox Classic.

COLLECTION: Victorinox Classic South Korea National Flag 58mm (2000s) -March 1

The National Flag of South Korea is called Taegukgi or Taeguk flag. It has a 2:3 height to width proportion with white background, and red and blue Taeguk (red and blue Yin-Yang symbol) in the center and four black trigrams.

The black trigrams have several meanings depending on the classical elements.  Table below from the South Korea National Flag wikipedia page lists the various meanings:

Each trigram (hangul: kwae) represents one of the four classical elements.  Source: www.wikipedia.org

The idea of the National Flag was first brought up during the negotiations of the Japan-Korea Treaty of 1876, during this time, there was no official Korean flag to represent the country.  This is re-emerged again during the United States-Korea Treaty of 1882.  This time, Ma Jianzhong, a Chinese official and scholar in the late Qing Dynasty proposed the initial design of the Korean Flag with a red and black yin-yang (instead of the red and blue). On August, 1882, Park Yeong-hyo, a Korean politician, diplomat and activist during the Joseon Dynasty period became the first Korean to use the National flag internationally in Japan.  By January 27, 1883, the government official recognized the use of the flag.

Old Korean National Flag. Source: www.wikipedia.org

The current South Korea national flag was official declared by the South Korean government on 15 October 1959.

Today, 1st of March is a special day in South Korea which marks the March 1st Movement or Samil Movement when 33 Korean nationalists and students declared their country's independence in Seoul from the Japanese Occupation. This provided a catalytic momentum for the Korean Independence Movement which eventually led to the establishment of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (April 13, 1919).

This particular Victorinox Classic has a product code of 0.6203.KR0 and was released in 2000s as part of the expanded Victorinox National Flag series collection.

References:
www.wikipedia.org.