The question of fakery/counterfeiting brings up interesting points. Whilst it is pointed in a dishonest direction, it takes considerable skill, ingenuity and nerve to carry it off
The history of art forgery has long interested me, back in the early c20th numerous previously 'unknown' masterpieces by renowned artists e.g. Raphael, Leeonardo, Michelangelo surfaced to the ecstasy of collectors and vested interest 'experts' Fortunes were made but a lingering whiff of counterfeit hung around. A dynamic had been created: due to the fortunes to be made various experts became convinced they were fakes or genuine as the case may be. The more they knew the less they wanted to see....
Gullibility knows no limits. Only recently, 2017, an alleged Leonardo masterpiece , Salvator Mundi, was auctioned for 450 million USD to a private collector, it has promptly vanished amidst legitimacy controversy. Was it Da Vinci's work or overpainted by apprentices?
With rare, antique knives the same pattern can emerge as high values/greed inspire the master forger. And in some senses, what is forgery? A man working in a cutlery company clandestinely makes small numbers of exclusive patterns in his own time for dishonest ends or takes parts home to assemble them for amusement or profit. Plus, quite innocently, somebody might've been tinkering with knife parts, experimenting with styles or improving his skill; years later they are seized upon as unique rarities or else products of forgery; when they might have been neither. There's a thin line in antiquities between restorer and forger.
The first knife Charlie showed is indeed interesting, personally, I find it rather grotesque a kind of knife gothic, but tastes are fortunately very varied. The front bolster looks in very pristine condition which is somewhat at odds with the blade condition and dimensions to my eye. But, I don't profess to have special knowledge of the subject, others know far more than I, there might be catalogues showing examples of this knife but it certainly is a bizarre style for the era or any era. The second knife is very much more to my taste and consequently (and dangerously?) I don't scrutinise it very much.
This thread should run and run, there will be a rich seam of argument and dispute as some knives really are mysteries.
Regards, Will