GEC Tuna Valley Cigar

[wolfeknives]

This was one of my first purchases when I started collecting GEC knives about three years ago. It is designated a #2402 Cigar Stockman Blood Red Peach Seed Jig Bone. The blade steel is 440C. GEC's production numbers say 73 were serialized/made. Made by GEC in 2010 under the Tuna Valley brand for Spaceport Cutlery.
For some strange reason I am drawn to blood red jig bone covers on any of the GEC knives. This one has the peach seed jigging as well, makes it even more attractive to me.

GEC also made 75 Smooth Brazilian Cherry Wood, and 75 Burnt Stag examples in the same year. Anyone have photo of these?

 

[Getting older]

All I can say is "wow"

 

[traumkommode]

I don't have one. I stared at one too long on a dealers website when it was still in stock back in 2015 or 2016, and then *poof* it was gone. Still bummer about it sometimes, because sheesh, what a knife!

But, I wonder if Rookie82 has any of these to show off. He's the resident Tuna Valley extraordinaire.

 

[Sam Dean]

I have the cherry - love those dimpled bolsters!!

 

[wolfeknives]

Thank you for posting that spectacular example Sam.
These knives have a interesting history I discovered here: https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/question-about-tuna-valley-cutlery-knives.1335470/
They exist in six variations. GEC produced all three cover options as plain knives. A portion of the run was purchased by Queen (Daniels). They in turn dimpled the bolsters on the bone and cherry handled knives, and engraved the stag handled examples. I will have to keep an eye out for some of the others, all are intriguing.

Wolfgang

 

[Rookie82]

Thanks for tagging me Traumkommode so I didn't miss this thread. I've learned a lot about this history of Tuna Valley over the years. This set is pretty interesting.

In 2010, Perry Miller / Spaceport Cutlery commissioned GEC to make him 300 knives (100 knives in 3 different handle materials). The first 75 of each were to be serialized, and the remaining 25 were blank. For the red bone, something happened, and only 98 total were made, with only 73 total serialized.

The knives didn't sell as well as they had hoped, and when Perry passed away unexpectedly, the Daniels Family were able to acquire the rights to continue making knives under the Tuna Valley name. No knives were made in 2011, but in 2012 the Daniels sold their shares of GEC, bought Queen Cutlery, and began making plans to produce Tuna knives out of the Queen factory. A few patterns during the transition were still made at GEC in 2012.

All the remaining inventory of the Perry Miller knives were acquired, and to keep them different from the ones that Perry had sold, all the remaining knives were modified. All the leftover Brazilian Cherry, or Redbone knives had the bolsters dimpled, which also hides the serial number. All the leftover stag ones were sent to Damon Soileau of Oiseau Metal Arts, who hand engraved the bolsters with a leaf engraving.

The total amount of modified knives that were re-released and sold in 2012 were (Jigged Redbone = 35, Brazilian Cherry = 50, Burnt Stag = 15). I have 5 of the 6 varieties, but have never been able to find a redbone with dimpled bolsters for sale anywhere.

 

[traumkommode]

Thanks for tagging me Traumkommode so I didn't miss this thread. I've learned a lot about this history of Tuna Valley over the years. This set is pretty interesting.

In 2010, Perry Miller / Spaceport Cutlery commissioned GEC to make him 300 knives (100 knives in 3 different handle materials). The first 75 of each were to be serialized, and the remaining 25 were blank. For the red bone, something happened, and only 98 total were made, with only 73 total serialized.

The knives didn't sell as well as they had hoped, and when Perry passed away unexpectedly, the Daniels Family were able to acquire the rights to continue making knives under the Tuna Valley name. No knives were made in 2011, but in 2012 the Daniels sold their shares of GEC, bought Queen Cutlery, and began making plans to produce Tuna knives out of the Queen factory. A few patterns during the transition were still made at GEC in 2012.

All the remaining inventory of the Perry Miller knives were acquired, and to keep them different from the ones that Perry had sold, all the remaining knives were modified. All the leftover Brazilian Cherry, or Redbone knives had the bolsters dimpled, which also hides the serial number. All the leftover stag ones were sent to Damon Soileau of Oiseau Metal Arts, who hand engraved the bolsters with a leaf engraving.

The total amount of modified knives that were re-released and sold in 2012 were (Jigged Redbone = 35, Brazilian Cherry = 50, Burnt Stag = 15). I have 5 of the 6 varieties, but have never been able to find a redbone with dimpled bolsters for sale anywhere.

Great info, great pictures, and great knives!

 

[wolfeknives]

Thank you for the extensive info and wonderful photos of these rare knives Rookie82. I very much appreciate the research you have done.
Hopefully I will be able to add a few more to my collection.

 

[Camillus]

Love these odd runs so much more than regular production. Do these patterns correspond to a GEC pattern such as #53?

 

[wolfeknives]

Love these odd runs so much more than regular production. Do these patterns correspond to a GEC pattern such as #53?

Yes, these are the GEC 53 pattern knives.

 

[Rookie82]

As an update to help this thread. Here is a photo of all 6 variations together.
(image removed)

 

[traumkommode]

As an update to help this thread. Here is a photo of all 6 variations together.
View attachment 1385609

I regret not picking several of these up when they were available. Which of the covers turned out to be your favorite? And, how are the dimpled bolsters finished? It's hard to tell in the picture due to the texture - are they matte or buffed?

 

[Rookie82]

I regret not picking several of these up when they were available. Which of the covers turned out to be your favorite? And, how are the dimpled bolsters finished? It's hard to tell in the picture due to the texture - are they matte or buffed?

The stag is nice, but something about that redbone really calls to me. It is my favorite of the 3 types used on this run.

The dimpled bolsters are pretty unique, I don't remember seeing that on other knives before. They are not rough at all, so likely buffed to take off any sharper edges. Feels fine in the hand.