Boker question

[stokensmoke]

I am trying to determine where a Boker Tang Stamp Series knife was actually manufactured. I find a lot of conflicting info online. The blade etching shows it was made in 2005. The tang stamp is as follows:

H. BOKER & CO
- BAUMWERK
SOLINGEN GERMANY
ALEMANIA

Can anyone enlighten me?

 

[waynorth]

Interesting markings!! "Alemania" is the Spanish name for Germany!!

 

[r8shell]

I'm pretty sure if it says "Solingen" then it's actually fully manufactured in Germany. The Alemania stamp makes me think the knife was made for export to somewhere Spanish speaking.

Boker owns the Arbolito Brand, with a factory in Argentina, so there's a history of South American production and sales.

 

[afishhunter]

"Solingin" is German manufacture. Possibly with all parts/components of German manufacture.
At one time, the "Solingin" stamp meant every part of the knife was sourced/made in Germany.
I don't know if that is still a requirement.

Böker and other German knives without it were made elsewhere.

 

[stokensmoke]

Very confusing. My understanding has been “Solingen” by itself meant all parts were sourced in Germany AND assembly was in done in Germany. “Solingen” and “Germany” together could mean parts were imported and the knife assembled in Germany, but not always the case. Correct me if I am wrong. With “Alemania” thrown in the mix, I think anything may be possible.

 

[screened porch]

For a while Boker had the system of Solingen = totally made in Germany, and Germany meant assembled there. Interesting to have tree in German instead of Spanish, considering the Allemania.
That's my recollection, and it was a recent development.

We have a Boker subforum, which you might want to ask the mods to move your thread to.

 

[knarfeng]

Very confusing. My understanding has been “Solingen” by itself meant all parts were sourced in Germany AND assembly was in done in Germany. “Solingen” and “Germany” together could mean parts were imported and the knife assembled in Germany, but not always the case. Correct me if I am wrong. With “Alemania” thrown in the mix, I think anything may be possible.

That's my understanding as well.
"Made in Germany" allows for parts of the knife to be fabricated elsewhere.
If it is marked "Solingen", then it must be fully fabricated in Solingen,

I'm pretty sure if it says "Solingen" then it's actually fully manufactured in Germany. The Alemania stamp makes me think the knife was made for export to somewhere Spanish speaking.

Boker owns the Arbolito Brand, with a factory in Argentina, so there's a history of South American production and sales.

What she said,

 

[Oldy]

I talked to the boker representative and was told that the ones strictly made in solingen says only solingen Germany,the tree brand with the Germany emblem are some parts sourced outside Germany but some manufacturing and packaging done in Germany.i believe yours has parts sourced from spain(where they got a lot of the bone from)but the final manufacturing of and packaging of the knife in germany.then a few brands are China and Spain with boker nametop one split between Germany and elsewhere, bottom done completely in solingen.

 

[Oldy]

As far as I understood was that for them to use solingen or Germany only a certain percentage had to be manufactured there,like on our Canada goose parkas a percentage had to be made in Canada to qualify for made in Canada,now I think that only Canada has to be spelled correctly to qualify .

 

[stokensmoke]

The pics are consistent with what I thought I knew. It’s when “Solingen” and “Germany” appear together that makes me unsure. Toss in “Alemania” for a trio and I go blank. I think you cleared it up for me. Many thanks for your help.

 

[abcdef]

If it is marked "Solingen", then it must be fully fabricated in Solingen,

If the stamp is the single word "Solingen", does that mean all parts and assembly are made and done in Germany? If any other word appears on the tang, does that mean some part or assembly could have been made or taken place elsewhere?

Bottom line, is a for real German Boker only stamped Solingen? - confused Porcher

 

[Will Power]

Interesting markings!! "Alemania" is the Spanish name for Germany!!

What he said

Oddly enough not all languages have the same word for their country and others.... Germans don't call their country Germany, but Deutschland- the AS world does though. Likewise, most people call the place where I live Finland but Finnish speaking Finns call it Suomi. If it has Solingen on it, the German knife epicentre, that's where it came from. Spanish speakers might not understand the word 'Germany' hence 'Alemania' . Böker (note the umlaut) do or used to make stuff in Argentina but Solingen will not appear on those tang-stamps.

 

[abcdef]

If the stamp is the single word "Solingen", does that mean all parts and assembly are made and done in Germany? If any other word appears on the tang, does that mean some part or assembly could have been made or taken place elsewhere?

Bottom line, is a for real German Boker only stamped Solingen? - confused Porcher

 

[stokensmoke]

Here is how I understand it. If it just says “Solingen”, all parts are sourced in Germany AND all assembly is done in Germany. As you say, for real German. If it says just “Germany”, some or all parts are sourced outside Germany and at least some assembly (maybe all) is done in Germany. Any other stamp combinations are a toss-up. I am no authority on this, so take this explanation with a grain of salt. I was attempting to clear up the issue by starting this thread. I am still a bit fuzzy myself, but less so than before.

 

[r8shell]

I think it may depend on how old the knife is. I have older Bokers that I'm pretty darned sure are made in Solingen, some with and some without "Germany"

In other words, it's complicated.

 

[Appaz]

If it says Solingen, then it is made in the Germany factory 100%..at least that is what they claim. If it says Germany, with no Solingen marking. it is mostly made in China with maybe some finish and final packaging done in Germany..if you want a true Boker made in Germany, it must have Solingen marked...Many of the German companies are manufacturing in China in order to be competitive due to their high labor costs...Examples are Henkels and Wusthof...thats why you can buy their sets in the big box stores for a fraction of the German made knives

 

[lambertiana]

My understanding is if it has Solingen on the tang, the knife was made there. Germany is added for US marketed knives because of our laws requiring country of manufacture labeling. The addition of Alemania is confusing to me - if it was made for the US market, it only needs Germany. I wonder if this is a stamp made for knives that could be marketed in the US or Spanish speaking countries and they wanted to cover all the bases without making separate product lines.