Andre Ronald knives South Africa

J

JamesBro

Joined
Aug 21, 2012
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231
I am not sure this is the right spot but here goes. Some time ago I came across a large Andre Ronald bowie and was sceptical that there was indeed a knifemaker of that name out of South Africa as the etching states. Cheap sheath, other issues on a decently made knife made me suspect Pakistan.
Since it was not a thick edge or cheap Damascus, I just put it away and figured who cares. Well now I see Arizona custom knives sells these so I decided to look into it with some destructive testing....it's soft..

As best I can tell it's high forties, low fifties Rockwell, it stamped, filed, ground easily. No pictures as it no longer has the etch. Just my personal findings and just fyi. James
 
I have never heard of him but that certainly does not mean he does not exist. I've asked some of my local collector friends if they know him.

My advice when buying knives made in South Africa is to stick to members of the Knifemakers Guild of South Africa (KGSA).

Edit: My friends have never heard of him but apparently there is a South African site which sells Pakistani knives under the guise of South African manufacture. It sounds like you got caught in this scam.
 
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These are indeed Pakistani. Andre Ronald, Sean Austin, and a few other names are pen names for a few dealers that import higher end knives out of Pakistan. They'll run a name for a few months till it gets burnt, then they'll switch off to another one, etc.... The sheaths are a big giveaway, and also sometimes they'll make lazy scammer mistakes, like one guy got a blade that was oiled up and wrapped in a Pakistani newspaper, another reshipped in the original Pakistani box, etc....
 
Kinda what I figured, for the most part they go cheap but I was disappointed to see ACK selling these for 275.00
Maybe future searches will turn up that Andre Ronald knives (soft!) are only good for grinding practice in my opinion.
James
 
tltt said:
These are indeed Pakistani. Andre Ronald, Sean Austin, and a few other names are pen names for a few dealers that import higher end knives out of Pakistan. They'll run a name for a few months till it gets burnt, then they'll switch off to another one, etc.... The sheaths are a big giveaway, and also sometimes they'll make lazy scammer mistakes, like one guy got a blade that was oiled up and wrapped in a Pakistani newspaper, another reshipped in the original Pakistani box, etc....
Click to expand...

Thanks. You just saved me from wasting my money on a nice looking bowie that's for sale on Arizona Custom Knives.
 
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