Those are beautiful! I am an 84mm fan, that tourist is fantasticWow, that's one you don't see often. And in good condition for the age!
I don't have any nearly as old, mostly from the 50s.
84 mm tourist (234 ka)
91 mm spartan (234 U)
83 mm Wenger from the late 50s/early 60s
Wenger model 1908 soldier from 1943, but I don't own this knife anymore
Now Jack, where've you been hiding this old beaut?
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Early 1900’s Victorinox
- Thread starter rishma
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I agree. Victorinox is an amazing company to see how exceptionally well made these knives were 100 years ago is astounding.
Will Power
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I am beyond envious when you post some of your Swiss Army knives!!!Wow, that's one you don't see often. And in good condition for the age!
I don't have any nearly as old, mostly from the 50s.
84 mm tourist (234 ka)
91 mm spartan (234 U)
83 mm Wenger from the late 50s/early 60s
Wenger model 1908 soldier from 1943, but I don't own this knife anymore
Now Jack, where've you been hiding this old beaut?
Thank you! The 84 mm ones make for great and handy gentleman's carries.
Thank you very much! Had to go through a couple of sour apples to get some nicer ones. The market appreciates well right now, which is good if one is selling, less so if one is buying ...
Here we are a full year later, this time with a 234k and 234 from the period between 1946 and 1951.
I thought it might be interesting to point out a few differences between these and the 1952-1957 versions I have already shown here.
The biggest difference is in the tools. In 1951 Victorinox introduced new can and bottle openers (the latter also a sharpened inside edge for stripping wire) and reverserld their position when compared to older models.
The 1946-51 also has nicklesilver liners while the 1952-57 one has aluminium liners. A small difference can also be seen in the Swiss Cross emblem, the older model has rounded tips while the newer has squared tips.
The shape of the main blades differs slightly as well and you can see the position of the nail nick changed. Personally I prefer the older blade on the left.
Another difference is the shape of the kick on the secondary clip point blade.
There of course other things to point out as well, such as a slight difference in stock thickness. I'm not sure if they really changed the composition of the plastic scales as they do feel a bit different but the colour definitely changed between the periods, the 1952 models have a slightly more maroon hint to them.
I thought it might be interesting to point out a few differences between these and the 1952-1957 versions I have already shown here.
The biggest difference is in the tools. In 1951 Victorinox introduced new can and bottle openers (the latter also a sharpened inside edge for stripping wire) and reverserld their position when compared to older models.
The 1946-51 also has nicklesilver liners while the 1952-57 one has aluminium liners. A small difference can also be seen in the Swiss Cross emblem, the older model has rounded tips while the newer has squared tips.
The shape of the main blades differs slightly as well and you can see the position of the nail nick changed. Personally I prefer the older blade on the left.
Another difference is the shape of the kick on the secondary clip point blade.
There of course other things to point out as well, such as a slight difference in stock thickness. I'm not sure if they really changed the composition of the plastic scales as they do feel a bit different but the colour definitely changed between the periods, the 1952 models have a slightly more maroon hint to them.
Yeah they introduced red plastic scales in 1937, but the first ones were celluloid, so they'd shrink or crack after while. They soon changed that though and started using celidor, which they still do. You could of course also get horn, stag and pearl handles back then. Even aluminium. The earliest examples had 4 exposed pins, like the one in the OP. They hid one pin sometime in the 20s, I think. That's when they also started using stainless steel (1923). All pins became hidden after 1957 and the big triangular awl went away in 1961. They're pointy as heck, punches a hole through a leather belt like nothing. Up until the mid to late 40s you could get brass liners as well.
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The scales are also referred to as vulcanised fibre (I think cotton). This material was used on this year's 125th anniversary officer knife from Victorinox. I've seen this material in sheet form used for electrical insulation, washers and gaskets.