I think I just found the most exspensive knife in the world

Evan V.

Evan V.

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 7, 2010
Messages
471
I stumbled upon this $850,000.00 knife and was blown away. Link and photos below:

Buster Warenski
CAF-339 : "The Gem of the Orient"
"The Gem of the Orient" dagger was constructed using 32 ounces of hardened 18K gold, and is adorned with 153 emeralds, 9 diamonds totaling 5 karats, and features a forest green jade handle.

http://www.nordicknives.com/GenGAL1.php?id=4934

CAF_339.jpg
 
I'm amazed that that knife is up for sale on a dealer's webstore and not included in some kind of art auction.

I wonder what the story is behind this.
 
I think Buster's King Tut dagger was worth more than $1,000,000 before the price of Gold went up, although the recent economic crises may have softened the market.
 
Lorien said:
I'm amazed that that knife is up for sale on a dealer's webstore and not included in some kind of art auction.

I wonder what the story is behind this.
Click to expand...

I'm not quite sure about the period, but that dagger is up for sale at Nordic for at least six months or so.

Marcel
 
That piece has actually been up on Dave's site for a while.
I believe Joss or someone started a thread the day it was listed.
Should fine it if you do a search.
"Fire & Ice" (it's sister knife) was listed the same day.
I believe the price has since been reduced on that piece quite a bit.
 
Lorien said:
I wonder what the story is behind this.
Click to expand...

From Julie Warenski's website:

"First of our "Legacy Series" was the "King Tut Dagger." This knife was a faithful reproduction of the solid gold knife that was unearthed with the mummy of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen. This knife required several skills that had been all but lost. Many hours of research and experimentation made reproduction of this knife possible. The skills developed in making the "King Tut" knife and other skills learned later were employed in the construction of the second knife in the "Legacy Series," "The Gem of the Orient." It was designed for a Japanese customer. This knife incorporated emeralds and diamonds to accent the gold filigree overlaid jade handle. Using 28 ounces of 18K gold, 153 emeralds totaling 10 karats and 9 diamonds totaling 5 karats, along with the forest green jade handle, "The Gem of the Orient" was the second step in our legacy."

First of all, the King Tut Dagger will set the benchmark for the highest price paid for a modern knife, a $1,000,000 offer has already been rejected....but no one knows exactly HOW it will sell or for how much, Phil isn't really keen on selling it.

Dave Harvey at Nordic sells a lot of knives, is trustworthy, and dedicated to the sale....there is no guarantee that an auction can bring in people any more interested in purchasing this knife than Dave can....it just means the right buyer for the right piece has not been found yet.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Here's a re-posting of the excellent photo of the trio, which Buddy Thomason took at the Santa Barbara Show last year.

GemoftheOrient-KingTut-FireIce.jpg
 
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I think I have heard of that maker from somewhere.
 
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Beautiful, thank you for sharing. Just amazing, I really like the Egyptian one. Santa Barbara is not to far from me... I had no clue there was a show, though I was pre-occupied with the arrival of my first child and then back surgery....

Kevin Jones said:
Here's a re-posting of the excellent photo of the trio, which Buddy Thomason took at the Santa Barbara Show last year.
Click to expand...
 
Evan V. said:
Beautiful, thank you for sharing. Just amazing, I really like the Egyptian one. Santa Barbara is not to far from me... I had no clue there was a show, though I was pre-occupied with the arrival of my first child and then back surgery.....
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The Santa Barbara Show takes place every other year alternating with the Solvang Show which took place last weekend.

The Egyptian one is Buster's famous replica of the famous King Tut Dagger for which, as Steven mentioned, a cool million was rejected.

Here's photo of the Buster Warenski 'King Tut Dagger" alone by Jim Cooper.

KingTutDagger.jpg
 
Though not as valuable as any of the Legacy series solid gold daggers made by Warenski, there is another Warenski dagger that holds the distinction of probably having the most gems in it - about 750 diamonds and 40+ rubies.

If you are attending the Blade Show this year, it will be available for viewing at the Custom Knife Collectors Association (CKCA) table in the lobby at the show. It will be shown alongside the Association's Benefit knife, which perhaps Kevin could tell us about!

Best,

Bob Betzner
 
betzner said:
Though not as valuable as any of the Legacy series solid gold daggers made by Warenski, there is another Warenski dagger that holds the distinction of probably having the most gems in it - about 750 diamonds and 40+ rubies.
Click to expand...

Heck, Bob....you know that Main Gauche is in a class by itself!

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
All are lovely but I really like the King Tut piece

Does anyone have a good photo of the original knife .. Would love to see it
 
JParanee said:
All are lovely but I really like the King Tut piece

Does anyone have a good photo of the original knife .. Would love to see it
Click to expand...

I've seen the original, but haven't seen Phil's.

Here's a not so good photo of the original.
tutl43.jpg
 
Thanks Kevin


I wonder what the original is worth


I guess the word priceless comes to mind but everything has a price:D
 
Kohai999 said:
Heck, Bob....you know that Main Gauche is in a class by itself!

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
Click to expand...

STeven, the neat thing is we both have our grail - and at Blade, you'll see the Main Gauche and once I take Phil up on the invite to fish, I'll get to see Phil's King Tut. It's a life dream, actually, just to see it.

Best,

Bob

EDIT/SIDENOTE: It comes to mind, when discussing the Legacy series of knives, as well as the Main Gauche, that currently all four pieces are in California. Never really occurred to me they were located so centrally, once you consider that two are on consignment here.
 
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