Kissing Crane(s)....German or Chinese?

rinos said:
:thumbup:
no worries,i'm trying to quit anyway(more money for knives) ;)
Click to expand...

How about a 1st runner up prize...I have a new Paracord bracelet nobody claimed during the Xmas pay it forward thread in the Becker forums. If you want it, it's yours...just send me your addy.;)
 
Thanks so much! I'll enjoy it lots. :)

i1iihi.jpg
 
Alnamvet68 said:
If it says "hand crafted" in Germany, it means they imported the parts from China and assembled the knife in Germany.
Click to expand...

Puma is doing something similar. And yes, the kissing crane's trademark is a SMKW brand. I believe Hen & Rooster trademark is owned by Frost Cutlery. But the knives are reportedly made in Germany.
 
Last edited:
22-rimfire said:
Puma is doing something similar. And yes, the kissing cranes trademark is a SMKW brand. I believe Hen & Rooster trademark is owned by Frost Cutlery. But the knives are reportedly made in Germany.
Click to expand...

Yes, H&R are still being made in Germany, but being familiar with the Frost business model, it may just be a matter of time before they start making the Hen's in China. Your first clue will be a 4+" Congress knife in exotic rhino horn scales for $14.95.
 
It is so easy to confuse this even when you have read the words. Talk about screwing up a brand name.
 
At the Ramstein BX we have the German made Henkels kitchen cutlery hanging next to Chinese made models. The average consumer has no idea what they are buying. They see two knives hanging on the shelf with one priced over $100, and the other is a $20 made in China. Same company branding, with similar appearance, so it can't be a surprise if the brand name starts to suffer due to saturating the market with cheap products.

This stuff is frustrating for small makers of knives. I bought my first Kitchen Cutlery here in 2001 from a vendor who sold Eberhard Schaaf Gold Hamster (Now Solicut or Solingen Cutlery) knives. Last year I was taking a Marketing course and I used the knives for my subject. One day for a few hours I went to observe his customers and see how receptive they were to his product. 9/10 people came up and asked how his knives compared to Henkels and Wusthof. Not a single customer I observed knew how to hold one of his knives correctly. Comparative marketing is also illegal here in Germany, which complicates things further because it seems we (Americans) can't think outside of comparing products.

So there he sits, with a product far superior to anything these people will probably ever see, and they turn their nose up to him because his products cost so much more than that awesome set of Henkels (Made in China version) at the BX for $199.
 
There is a lot of discussion in the German watches forum about what constitutes "German made". I don't have much experience with them since I hang out with the "affordables" folks, but from what I understand, Germany does not have many regulations to determine "made in Germany", unlike the Swiss who have regulations about what constitutes "Swiss made". I imagine our German members would know better though.
I've passed on some H&R knives because of one that I bought, a small Coke bottle, has "Germany" on the tang, not "Solingen". I think Pete wrote about some of the newer Bokers that have "Germany" shields rather than "Solingen" shields, that they are assembled elsewhere from German components. While my little Coke bottle is nice, it doesn't look like my other H&R that say Solingen on them.

hrcoke.jpg


Z
 
I am a little confused as to what a non Chinese Kissing Cranes is marked on the knife. On Ebay I see ones with the Kissing Cranes box but the knife is marked Kissing Crane. I see ones marked Rostfrei Italy instead of Germany.
 
Comparative marketing is also illegal here in Germany,

now why would that be?
 
zippofan said:
There is a lot of discussion in the German watches forum about what constitutes "German made". I don't have much experience with them since I hang out with the "affordables" folks, but from what I understand, Germany does not have many regulations to determine "made in Germany", unlike the Swiss who have regulations about what constitutes "Swiss made". I imagine our German members would know better though.
I've passed on some H&R knives because of one that I bought, a small Coke bottle, has "Germany" on the tang, not "Solingen". I think Pete wrote about some of the newer Bokers that have "Germany" shields rather than "Solingen" shields, that they are assembled elsewhere from German components. While my little Coke bottle is nice, it doesn't look like my other H&R that say Solingen on them.

hrcoke.jpg


Z
Click to expand...

If a H&R doesn't have Solingen on the tang, then it's made in Spain or Italy.
 
Alnamvet68 said:
If a H&R doesn't have Solingen on the tang, then it's made in Spain or Italy.
Click to expand...

I don't necessarily agree. The Spanish and Italian made knives from the past (Boker, KC, etc) have been marked as much. You have to want to hide the origins pretty bad to "not" mark them when they are a bonus to the knife; Spain or Italy would both be better than the other assumption. Boker has been at least predictable in how they are marking their "hybrid" knives. But HR have changed their stampings/etchings enough that there is no hard/fast rule now; and it is not like their was a press release when they changed them in the first place. It is a lot like an eBay auction; you have to pay more attention to what they DO NOT say, than what the do say.

As to the one pictured: if one side of the blade is stamped with some reference to German Stainless or such and the actual trademarked side is laser etched - it ought to be an indicator. I mean, why not stamp both sides at the same time? Why use two different methods to mark?

A few months ago, I was willing to so I would stay away from those NOT marked Bertram. But now I am seeing them with the secondary LASER etch of Bertram on them. I am not recommending one over the other, just a personal preference and professional self-imposed restriction.

If, when I hold a HR knife in my hand and it is not obviously a end-to-end German Boker or Olbertz factory product, I pass on it. But the selection is quickly vanishing as it appears to me Olbertz is making near to nothing and Boker has decided to focus on tacticals and "Hybrids".
 
The H&R brand is owned by Frost Cutlery. If they can take advantage of H&R's brand recognition while finding the cheapest way to produce them , then they will.

I have a Buck Creek branded swing guard that looks exactly like it was made in the same factory as the H&R knife pictured above. The tang merely says "German Stainless" , there is no indication anywhere , including the packaging, where it was made. Frost owns that brand too .
 
100% German steel and German made; no MSG, no soy sauce, no black bean paste or even a smidgen of nước mắm in this steel....

 
New Kissing Cranes collector here. I'm looking at a couple of stiletto knives I'm thinking of adding to my collection, would anyone be willing to take a look at a picture or two and give their thoughts? any guidance would be much appreciated! thank you
 
jugheadeo said:
New Kissing Cranes collector here. I'm looking at a couple of stiletto knives I'm thinking of adding to my collection, would anyone be willing to take a look at a picture or two and give their thoughts? any guidance would be much appreciated! thank you
Click to expand...

I've seen a lot of them over the years. They come in wood, bone, stag and probably other covers. The older ones appear to be of higher quality than the newer ones. But recently the Chinese have upped their game when it comes to some of these classics. I've seen some that were OK. Plus I got a DHGate (Chinese knife company) counterfeit Italian switchblade in the stiletto style that is very well made, better than some of the Italian made ones.

The older Kissing Crane stilettos can be kind of weird, mine dates from 1990s and has a carbon steel lockback with a stainless steel blade. It's held up to a lot of abuse but the blade steel is somewhat soft. I bent the tip and bent it back and it didn't snap.

Some of the prices for "original German" Kissing Cranes are pretty outlandish given the initial quality of the knife. Maybe it's collector driven. At gun shows they call the Italian made, German branded ones "vintage" and charge more than what it was new. They were about $15-20 from SMKW in the 1990s. Knife Center (Bladeforums supporter) has one in stag listed as made in Italy but there is no country of origin in the picture. Some low rent knife emporiums offer them cheaper but with no country of origin identified or on the blade. The older ones always had a country of origin even if it wasn't the country where it was made.

Some have claimed it was a Kissing Crane stiletto that OJ used to kill Nicole, I believe the only thing known for sure is he bought one or two of them.
 
Erphern said:
The box marked "Solingen" with the KC stamp is the German one...

...nothing else makes sense! :D
Click to expand...
I have a Kissing Crane Stockman beater, no box. It says Robt Klaas Solingen Germany on the main blade.
It does have a nice KC emblem on stag handles.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top