CRK 5 year wait and no more Damascus

XJ-linux said:
Regarding Sebenzas... Besides Forever Flag, 3 woods, and 2 micartas, can you still order anything "special"?

For example, do they take any UG orders like "Fantasy Island" anymore? I know Night Sky is done, but there have been others over the years that I like and are not allocated to one specific reseller (like Dog Paws for example). I'd probably place an order, but from what I see on the website, you can really only order what's already available from resellers.
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I think Kettleman hit it right on the head when he predicted that inlays and inlays only will be used to make 31s "special".

It's a bummer that damascus will be a thing if the past too soon.

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Jacques Mi said:
I think Kettleman hit it right on the head when he predicted that inlays and inlays only will be used to make 31s "special".
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They ceracoated some 31's in black, green and tan... and then stopped? But, beyond that I think you are about right. Most of the UG 31's I see are forgetable to me - color blurs of various sorts. People seem to buy them from retailers fairly quickly, but I've rarely seen one come up for sale used; none have "names" and there aren't any cohesive "scenes" or "themes" anymore. Then again maybe everybody loves those enough to never sell them, and I'm missing out? Where do they all go? I suspect they are speculative stores of value at this point, to be dumped at some point when they double in value?
 
XJ-linux said:
They ceracoated some 31's in black, green and tan... and then stopped? But, beyond that I think you are about right. Most of the UG 31's I see are forgetable to me - color blurs of various sorts. People seem to buy them from retailers fairly quickly, but I've rarely seen one come up for sale used; none have "names" and there aren't any cohesive "scenes" or "themes" anymore. Then again maybe everybody loves those enough to never sell them, and I'm missing out? Where do they all go? I suspect they are speculative stores of value at this point, to be dumped at some point when they double in value?
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UG Water Lily

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Jacques Mi said:
The one you have/carry with a personal engraving. My guess is that's the most important CRK you have albeit its not the most rare model.
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Yes and no. While the knife clearly has a lot of meaning to me, that meaning doesn't come as much from the knife itself, but what was it represents and what was done to it. If it were lost or destroyed it would hurt, but it could be re-created. It might be hard (and expensive) to find another Morning Sun that shares our anniversary, but getting the engraving on the back would be as easy as sending it to CRK. Don't get me wrong, it does have meaning to me and I won't sell it, but it won't be my very last.

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The true 'Never Sell" knives have meaning to me that can never be re-created even if the knife were duplicated. One is an Inkosi with my husband's and my names on the front, and our wedding date on the back, made by CRK to commemorate our wedding.

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The knives that are really the last I'd ever sell were a gift to us when Ron's cancer was diagnosed. "I Love You", done in Bill Harsey's handwriting, engraved on the front. A message to us from people who really cared about Ron, and a message he and I used those knives for to communicate to each other. Among so many other ways.

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And finally one that's rare and special in it's own right, but now has a very special meaning to me. A Classic with Gold Wire inlays that I'd bought maybe a month before we got his cancer diagnosis. When it arrived he saw me open it and from my reaction he knew I really liked it. I showed him and told him about it, and how I was in awe over it's beauty. Even joked that "I can stop collecting now". Of course he laughed at that, even though I was only half joking. But after we got his diagnosis I started selling knives fast to build up funds for his treatment that insurance wouldn't cover. I sold a couple dozen without making any notes of what was gone like I normally did, so it wasn't until I got them all out and did an inventory a year and a half later that I figured out what I'd sold and what I hadn't before he asked me to stop selling them. The Gold Wire was gone, clearly a casualty, and I had no memory of who I'd sold it to. I was OK with that, I'd have sold every one of them if it would have given him a chance.

But several months after I accepted that it was gone I was packing the last of his RC plane parts and supplies to donate to a local flying club. As I was putting the smaller boxes into a larger, I uncovered one with a familiar logo. The box CRK sends knives back from the spa in. I opened it and almost dropped it on the floor in shock. The Gold Wire and an Annual from my complete set were in there. Ron knew my Annuals well, he'd seen them many times and knew the significance of a complete set. But the Gold Wire, for him to choose and hide that one showed me once again how much he listened to what I said even though he wasn't into knives himself, and how much he cared about me. I think about that and about him every time I see the knife, and carry it a lot along with the Sunset Sebenza. This one rides in a fitted slip in my front pocket, and as you can guess, I'll never sell it.

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Lone_Wolfe said:
Yes and no. While the knife clearly has a lot of meaning to me, that meaning doesn't come as much from the knife itself, but what was it represents and what was done to it. If it were lost or destroyed it would hurt, but it could be re-created. It might be hard (and expensive) to find another Morning Sun that shares our anniversary, but getting the engraving on the back would be as easy as sending it to CRK. Don't get me wrong, it does have meaning to me and I won't sell it, but it won't be my very last.

View attachment 2776962



The true 'Never Sell" knives have meaning to me that can never be re-created even if the knife were duplicated. One is an Inkosi with my husband's and my names on the front, and our wedding date on the back, made by CRK to commemorate our wedding.

View attachment 2776970
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The knives that are really the last I'd ever sell were a gift to us when Ron's cancer was diagnosed. "I Love You", done in Bill Harsey's handwriting, engraved on the front. A message to us from people who really cared about Ron, and a message he and I used those knives for to communicate to each other. Among so many other ways.

View attachment 2776972
And finally one that's rare and special in it's own right, but now had a very special meaning to me. A Classic with Gold Wire inlays that I'd bought maybe a month before we got his cancer diagnosis. When it arrived he saw me open it and from my reaction he knew I really liked it. I showed him and told him about it, and how I was in awe over it's beauty. Even joked that "I can stop collecting now". Of course he laughed at that, even though I was only half joking. But after we got his diagnosis I started selling knives fast to build up funds for his treatment that insurance wouldn't cover. I sold a couple dozen without making any notes of what was gone like I normally did, so it wasn't until I got them all out and did an inventory a year and a half later that I figured out what I'd sold and what I hadn't before he asked me to stop selling them. The Gold Wire was gone, clearly a casualty, and I had no memory of who I'd sold it to. I was OK with that, I'd have sold every one of them if it would have given him a chance.

But several months after I accepted that it was gone I was packing the last of his RC plane parts and supplies to donate to a local flying club. As I was putting the smaller boxes into a larger, I uncovered one with a familiar logo. The box CRK sends knives back from the spa in. I opened it and almost dropped it on the floor in shock. The Gold Wire and an Annual from my complete set were in there. Ron knew my Annuals well, he'd seen them many times and knew the significance of a complete set. But the Gold Wire, for him to choose and hide that one showed me once again how much he listened to what I said even though he wasn't into knives himself, and how much he cared about me. I think about that and about him every time I see the knife, and carry it a lot along with the Sunset Sebenza. This one rides in a fitted slip in my front pocket, and as you can guess, I'll never sell this one.

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What a great story and memory! You ever considered becoming a broker? I mean, even if you don't sell, you seem to have the inside track on some of the most awesome knives around. Truly breathtaking collection.

I would be happy to pay a finders fee if you ever come across 2004 or 2009 Large annual. My two daughters birth years and I've always thought it would make cool wedding gifts one day....
 
Mad lead times, luckily most retailers carry their knives so it shouldn't be too hard except for maybe graphic models. Curious as to why they haven't done damasteel versions, but I guess is because they don't wanna compromise on QC
 
jokrswylde said:
What a great story and memory! You ever considered becoming a broker? I mean, even if you don't sell, you seem to have the inside track on some of the most awesome knives around. Truly breathtaking collection.

I would be happy to pay a finders fee if you ever come across 2004 or 2009 Large annual. My two daughters birth years and I've always thought it would make cool wedding gifts one day....
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Thank you.

As for being a broker, never thought about it. I don't have any better sources than most of you folks on finding knives, and when I do help someone get something I never charge a fee.
 
Whats Up?

My uninformed guesses: The demand for a quality product today is immense. A huge number of folks can manage to pony up $500 to $1,000 for a nice knife if they really want to. I am thinking that CRTK doesn't want to do whatever is required to expand their operation to accommodate the demand. Additionally, they want to streamline their sales function by feeding their production into the consumer demand pool through dealers. If you want one go to the CRK website and read the list of authorized dealers.

Dropping Damascus could be another move to streamline their operation while creating a uniformity in their product line. I think most to all CRK knives are or will soon be Magnicut only.

This business model is similar to Randall Made in regard to limiting steel choice to their generic carbon and stainless blade steels, though they do offer a limited selection of options that you can wait 5 years for. . . .I did.

I am just guessing on all of this,so I could be wildly wrong on any of it.
 
A small PJ 31 Damascus without tax is $675. It’s about $725 with tax. I think most people are not buying it due to price. As such, CRK are stopping for a while. Makes sense to me, but just a guess. There are tons of ho hum inlay Sebenzas not selling on dealer shelves at $650. Seems like no one wants S45VN at all, so those gotta sell too.
 
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