Recommendation? GEC Factory Second?

[Benjamin Carl]

Sometimes, It is difficult to discern exactly what makes a S knife a store knife other then the fact that you bought it from the S counter of the shop instead of the main counter. Ive often speculated these were knives they found in the safe and didnt sell when they came out as a certain rendezvous had a ton of goodies that were all marked S but had no readily identifiable issue. Some knives the only reason they are an S seems to be because it was just stamped on it. I remember talking to Patty about this at the most recent rendezvous as I was able to score another 14 ebony clip due to foolishly letting my spare go a few years back during a 14 purge. There was practically nothing wrong with it, except it was marked an S and was stored in the S cabinet. Spring was fine and still better than the most recent 14 run, no issue on the blade besides the aforementioned S, no cosmetic defect on the ebony etc. Ive asked William and Christine the same thing at various rendezvouses. In any case, enjoy the discount and enjoy the knife.

You might be on to something here - I grabbed this 72 hoofpick at this years rendezvous from the S counter. Can’t find anything wrong with it, and it would make sense it was stored away after not selling at release (tang stamp says 2013).

 

[JoKr]

GEC is also stamping SFA's from the Rendezvous with the S stamp, not all but some which adds to the confusion. These are from this year.

what i found out is, that Special Factory Assembly knives are not marked "S" per se.

''Special Factory Assembly knives actually had no designation to mark them as such until 2019 (possibly since the 2018 Rendezvous but I don't think so) and were previously called Parts Knives. Since this year (2021 or earlier) GEC has been using a tube front label to designate knives as Special Factory Assembly knives.
Many of the SFA knives from recent Rendezvous have been BOTH Special Factory Assembly AND Store Model knives. If your SFA knife has an "S" on the tube top sticker and the tang, it is also a Store Model and is not covered by the warranty and is marked as such because of some perceived flaw...''

 

[mrknife]

You might be on to something here - I grabbed this 72 hoofpick at this years rendezvous from the S counter. Can’t find anything wrong with it, and it would make sense it was stored away after not selling at release (tang stamp says 2013).

i remember one year likely 2018, i was able to get a nifebrite 15 clip with pen and end cap from 2015. So it really isnt out of the realm of possibility to me. Cause the first rendezvous I attended, there was a piece of paper on the cabinet that said single 15 clips and I immediately asked for those this was before the concept of special factory assembly. They were just called parts knives back then.

Edit: just went through the photo archives, 2017.

 

[mrknife]

what i found out is, that Special Factory Assembly knives are not marked "S" per se.

''Special Factory Assembly knives actually had no designation to mark them as such until 2019 (possibly since the 2018 Rendezvous but I don't think so) and were previously called Parts Knives. Since this year GEC has been using a tube front label to designate knives as Special Factory Assembly knives.
Many of the SFA knives from recent Rendezvous have been BOTH Special Factory Assembly AND Store Model knives. If your SFA knife has an "S" on the tube top sticker and the tang, it is also a Store Model and is not covered by the warranty and is marked as such because of some perceived flaw...''

Im not sure about that...

see that knife on the end there. The regular batch was a small number of 25 that was for a club. The rest were marked S and sold at last years rendezvous, it also received an SFA label. SFA knives can have an S or it may not depending how they were designated. Also SFA stickers started roughly 2018.

 

[Benjamin Carl]

i remember one year likely 2018, i was able to get a nifebrite 15 clip with pen and end cap from 2015. So it really isnt out of the realm of possibility to me. Cause the first rendezvous I attended, there was a piece of paper on the cabinet that said single 15 clips and I immediately asked for those this was before the concept of special factory assembly. They were just called parts knives back then.

Heck of a find, nice work you never know what you’ll find there

 

[JoKr]

Im not sure about that...

see that knife on the end there. The regular batch was a small number of 25 that was for a club. The rest were marked S and sold at last years rendezvous, it also received an SFA label. SFA knives can have an S or it may not depending how they were designated. Also SFA stickers started roughly 2018.

you are right, i guess, when the text was written it was after the 2021 rendezvous (or earlier).
I think there are a few exceptions to the rule.
When I learn new things, I am always updating my documents, thnx mrknife

 

[ErikMB]

There isn't a single pristine knife in my display case... they all get used.
A knife doesn't feel like mine until I tote it and use it... otherwise it's just waiting to get sold.

That's the decision, wait to get sold vs being used.

Already using this one.

 

[kamagong]

So confusing. My 2nd is marked with a "2", not an "S".

 

[Markeologist]

Not sure much of a difference between the 2 and the S as both are placed across the tang to mark the knife as not being up to snuff. The S on my 86 was clearly meant to deface the factory markings, something I doubt GEC would do to just identify a piece sold in their factory store.

 

[mrknife]

Not sure much of a difference between the 2 and the S as both are placed across the tang to mark the knife as not being up to snuff. The S on my 86 was clearly meant to deface the factory markings, something I doubt GEC would do to just identify a piece sold in their factory store.View attachment 2021121

on the 2019 run, the S was stamped on the secondary!

 

[Primble]

View attachment 2005875

Now, I need to come up with a name for her, something American, snobby, bourgeois... anyone got an idea? Phillipa?

How about Chippin ? Get it ?

 

[Markeologist]

on the 2019 run, the S was stamped on the secondary!

Yeah, I have a Beer Scout where the S was placed on the secondary. These marks don’t raise value as this is still an intentional defacing of the knife to mark as less than perfect. If it added value, we would be seeing a plethora of counterfeits being offered on the secondary market.

 

[mrknife]

Yeah, I have a Beer Scout where the S was placed on the secondary. These marks don’t raise value as this is still an intentional defacing of the knife to mark as less than perfect. If it added value, we would be seeing a plethora of counterfeits being offered on the secondary market.View attachment 2021490

nah but when I had my 86 deleted, the secondary went, doesnt make it a non S knife tho.