Colorblind knife manufacturers

joeradza

joeradza

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There are many posts on how a Case knife color can differ from photo to the actual product. Just joking, but I think GEC is trying to copy Case. There are many examples but for me these two suffice. First it was Bob Andrew's SFO #14 in Rotten Banana that was hardly rotten. Now we have DLT's SFO in smooth autumn gold bone. Along with the lovely oak shield I was more than happy to reserve one. However, based on these two photos I doubt I'll go through with the purchase. You tell me which is smooth autumn gold bone and which one isn't.image.jpeg image.jpeg
 
I too have the DLT knife on reserve and noticed the same difference as you. My only hope is they will loose some of the brown when they go through the buffing process. Fingers crossed here!
Rick
 
Keep in mind buddy, they are not finished yet. They tend to lighten up quite a bit with each sanding/buffing step. They might end up VERY cool! The darker 77 Barlows come to mind. You never know!:thumbsup::)
 
Although I do understand, my perspective is a little different. Variations are not uncommon on old knives. And old knives are the reason for my interest in traditional knives. Sometimes it's a bit shabby but it can be nice also. There are some extremely well made and beautiful oldies with completely different colors on the mark and pile sides. Of course there are also a lot of great oldies with well matched covers too.

It's sort of funny to me that camel bone is popular because there are wild differences in how it takes up the dye. But variations in the dye on cattle bone is unwanted.

I do understand. Variation is best when we want variation. And consistency is best when we want consistency.

I know we all have different interests. Different tastes too. The knives in the photo look okay to me.
 
joeradza said:
Along with the lovely oak shield I was more than happy to reserve one. However, based on these two photos I doubt I'll go through with the purchase.
Click to expand...

joeradza, I am feeling the same as you. I was excited about the Autumn Gold and was happy to plunk down my money for a reservation, but after seeing the photos on the site so far, my enthusiasm has all but evaporated. Even if the buffing lightens them up, where is the gold? It's likely I'll pass on my reservation.
 
I agree with the OP - when a knife is pre-sold as a particular color then it should look something like that.

But variations and quirks are what keep us interested in GEC...and knife collecting generally.

Poor old DLT this is the second or third time its happened to them!

The knives look ok, if you didn't know what the color normally looks like you might buy one. Maybe.
 
That is quite a difference... the color of the bone in the finished (yes I know not quite finished) knives looks a lot cheaper than the top picture!
 
(as a pro photographer) One thing to keep in mind is that colour under studio lighting and a contrasty DSLR lens is usually far more alive than a snapshot taken under florescent lighting with someone's phone. This is true of all product photography. Especially if we don't know how much they cranked up on the contrast slider, either in camera or in the processing software. The truth is usually going to be somewhere in between those two photos. As for the brown, might get lighter but it looks like it's there to stay. To be frank, most knives never live up to the first advertising pic from GEC which seems to usually be the very pick of the bunch. Especially where stag is concerned.
 
You men who are dissatisfied with your DLT bones can always send one to me... I'll turn a blind eye:D:cool:

I think once finished they'll look very worthy:thumbsup:
 
Pomsbz said:
(as a pro photographer) One thing to keep in mind is that colour under studio lighting and a contrasty DSLR lens is usually far more alive than a snapshot taken under florescent lighting with someone's phone. This is true of all product photography. Especially if we don't know how much they cranked up on the contrast slider, either in camera or in the processing software. The truth is usually going to be somewhere in between those two photos. As for the brown, might get lighter but it looks like it's there to stay. To be frank, most knives never live up to the first advertising pic from GEC which seems to usually be the very pick of the bunch. Especially where stag is concerned.
Click to expand...
Which is why I try and take the saturation down a notch or two. My concern is not so much a slight change in color as it is going from one color to two.
 
joeradza said:
There are many posts on how a Case knife color can differ from photo to the actual product. Just joking, but I think GEC is trying to copy Case. There are many examples but for me these two suffice. First it was Bob Andrew's SFO #14 in Rotten Banana that was hardly rotten. Now we have DLT's SFO in smooth autumn gold bone. Along with the lovely oak shield I was more than happy to reserve one. However, based on these two photos I doubt I'll go through with the purchase. You tell me which is smooth autumn gold bone and which one isn't.View attachment 726530 View attachment 726531
Click to expand...
Doesn't look right to me Alan. As you know, smooth autumn gold is my favorite bone color. I don't see how those could even buff to what the first pic looks like.
 
There is a lot of variation apparently in "smooth autumn bone" considering that this darker color from the 2015 NF Barlow is that same bone:

1ZcwTed.jpg


Photo taken outdoors not in direct sunlight with a Samsung phone camera and no retouching.

[Edit - replaced broken Photobucket image with new one hosted on Imgur.]
 
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Here are four of my smooth autumn golds from different runs and years. The knife on top is a S&M Autumn Harvest bone.
1glpzZg.jpg

And a separate photo of a 99 Clip. It has a little bit of that brown in it? Changing my thinking (hoping). Maybe the new ones will buff out similar to some of these?
N7AoPaL.jpg
 
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