CRK Annual Limited Editions

There's something about the texture of the wood that makes it hard to put down, I totally agree with you kunc.


kunc said:
After owning and handling a 2011 wenge wood it has become one of, if not my favorite of all the annuals I have... it def grows on ya :)
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I will miss the annuals and the anticipation of the new ones every year. It was always fun to check my favorite sites like TNK, Edged Specialties, Only Fine Knives, Plaza Cutlery just to list a few that always had annuals up for sale. For 12 years Chris Reeve made the LE annual so there are 720 large annuals to find (collect). All good things come to a end sooner or later, and the large annual is as good as it gets for me.
 
780 total large plus 780 total small makes for a very small run in the grand scheme of things. I would say the LE's have just become a very collectable item :)
 
I don't know how many of them were left handed. ;)

I'll never let go of my 2001 BG-42 left hand small LE...
 
Agreed on the Wenge wood 2011 LE web. Saw one at Blade and it looked much better in reality than in an image. Although some (including myself) were originally repelled by the unorthodox pins in the wood, I now view this edition as the only year CRK added 18k embellishments to the hand-produced limited annual series. In time, it might end up being one of the most collected of the 1560 (780 of each size) limited annual sebenzas produced in total during their 13-yr run.

I'm quite disappointed though that the limited annual sebs went out with a whimper rather than a pre-announced grand finale, perhaps with a "best-of" run of various woods.
 
fernando said:
I'm quite disappointed though that the limited annual sebs went out with a whimper rather than a pre-announced grand finale, perhaps with a "best-of" run of various woods.
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Me too! I am actually quite mad and sad about it. The release of the annuals each year was one of those little things in life that I looked forward too and really enjoyed. It's what kept me interested in knives and this forum. I mainly visited the CR forum to see if there was anything posted regarding the LE annuals. I now find myself wondering if one of my hobbies is dying with this decision.
 
I know this is suppose to be a picture thread and I'm sorry for not adhering to it's purpose, but was there a reason given as to why annuals have been discontinued? There is serious demand, only slight exception was towards the gold/silver inlays of 2011. I bet surplus Regular blades/handles, the chassis that carried the special inlays which for me made the annuals folder perfection, are probably very low in numbers or non existent at CRK after their production was halted a few years ago. However, these can be manufactured again with relative ease can't they? I hate saying this but it seems like the golden years are over at CRK and they are moving toward a easier simplified approach. Maybe Chris has lost his drive, I don't want to think he doesn't care about his customers wants.
Bottom line, I'm guessing is that Chris doesn't need to mess with the hassle of annuals when demand or profits from straight production runs is greater than ever. It just feels like the magic that fell from a semi-custom house with exotic inlays and limited editions, all of which made CRK so unique, has or is beginning to run out.
 
kunc said:
I know this is suppose to be a picture thread and I'm sorry for not adhering to it's purpose, but was there a reason given as to why annuals have been discontinued? There is serious demand, only slight exception was towards the gold/silver inlays of 2011. I bet surplus Regular blades/handles, the chassis that carried the special inlays which for me made the annuals folder perfection, are probably very low in numbers or non existent at CRK after their production was halted a few years ago. However, these can be manufactured again with relative ease can't they? I hate saying this but it seems like the golden years are over at CRK and they are moving toward a easier simplified approach. Maybe Chris has lost his drive, I don't want to think he doesn't care about his customers wants.
Bottom line, I'm guessing is that Chris doesn't need to mess with the hassle of annuals when demand or profits from straight production runs is greater than ever. It just feels like the magic that fell from a semi-custom house with exotic inlays and limited editions, all of which made CRK so unique, has or is beginning to run out.
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Mr. Reeve told me at Blade, "Been there, Done that" and that he's been doing them for years, time to move on.
 
biting my tongue since i already verbally threw up on everyone :) but I will say CRK still and I believe always will put out out a quality product and I love the staff there. I'm just happy I got the knives I did before the changes that have taken place.
now back to the eye candy....
some raindrop beauties from OFN archives...love going through em...and love amboyna :P

L-cr-lg-sebenza-2006-amboyna.jpg

L cr lg sebenza 2006 box elder raindrop damascus.jpg
 
tomhalv said:
I will miss the annuals and the anticipation of the new ones every year. It was always fun to check my favorite sites like TNK, Edged Specialties, Only Fine Knives, Plaza Cutlery just to list a few that always had annuals up for sale. For 12 years Chris Reeve made the LE annual so there are 720 large annuals to find (collect). All good things come to a end sooner or later, and the large annual is as good as it gets for me.
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Happy hunting My friend !!!!!!!!
 
As promised, 1999 through 2011.

Lousy pictures, but they go from 1999 at top left in order down the colums. At the bottom of the middle column is the 2008 pair with mammoth bark and Spirograph Damascus. All the rest are BG-42 or S30V.
 

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James - WOW, most excellent collection. Thanks much for posting them to share! :thumbup: :thumbup:
 
stjames said:
As promised, 1999 through 2011
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Now that's a true Sebenzanista. Simply outstanding!
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Very nice James. It is very satisfying to have a complete collection like that simply because of the time and patience required to pull it together
 
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