Mid Eighties Kershaw Damascus Knife

T

tvranesic

Joined
Apr 19, 2006
Messages
3,743
In the mid 1980's Kershaw offered eight different patterns of stag-handled knives that were made in Solingen, Germany. I'm fairly certain that at least seven of these were made by Anton Wingen Jr. Among the eight was a Damascus-bladed knife. Included with the knife was an insert that states that the Damascus was made by Manfred Sachse. Does anyone know if Manfred Sachse was a Wingen employee? Or, did he make the blades and Wingen assemble the knives? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I'll post some pics later, as I'm currently over my quota (which just re-appeared) and must make some space.
 
I don't know the answer but if you hang tight Kershawguy or ThomasW will be along before too long. If anyone has the answer it'll be one of those 2. Best of luck finding out the answer.
 
Dave will probably know. I don't know about that other guy. He may be getting some rest after being SHOT. :D

mike
 
Great question, I also have one of these and the documentation states that he (Manfred Sachse) will make less than 500 of these knives per year, mine is #365 made in 1985. Also I googled mr Sachse and many pages said he made knives exclusively for Boker for over 2 decades , which would mean he made these just prior to working for Boker. My guess is he was not an employee of Wingen, but I would suggest asking someone more in the know, like Bernard Levine he has a thread here on the BF's and I will be seeing him in a couple of weeks , if we don't have an answer by then. Have you found documentation someplace that identified Anton Wingon as the maker of the other Solingen made knives ?

Dave
 
Dave,

One of the forum users (Bernard's forum) who goes by the ID Germania is pretty much THE authoratative source for all things German. He recalled the meetings in the early eighties when Pete Kershaw was in Solingen meeting with Wingen officials. Also, if you read the inserts that came with the Solingen knives all of the information really points to Wingen. Wingen also made identical knives bearing their marks. Although I've not seen documentation, I'm thoroughly convinced they were the maker of these knives. My guess is that Sachse probably made the blade for Wingen on a contract basis. One intersting point is that the inserts say that Sachse would make no more than 500 of the Damascus knives per year, but Kershaw's catalog from 1984-1985 syas that no more than twenty per month could be made. Bernard will likely defer to Germania for the answer to this one.
 
Thanks for the info, I really had never known about Wingen being involded with Kershaw before, good stuff. I also had seen the 20 per month number in my catalogs as well , rather strange isn't it. Still a few of those Solingen models I need for my collection. Are you a Kershaw collector ?
 
Collector, seller, etc. I actually just listed the Kershaw stag bowie last night. I basically sell to finance my collecting.
 
That is the only one I am missing out of my set of three , a friend of mine in Texas is high bidder at the moment. I have the game keeper and the dagger.

Dave
 
I have the large stag folder as well, but it's the one that Wingen sold with their marks only.
 
Hi,

I've recently inherited a set of three knives by Kershaw/Solingen, Original Bowie Knife, a dagger and a boot knife. From the web searching I've done it seems to be a rare set done for Snap-On-Tools in 1984 by Solingen for Kershaw. I see that Anton Wingen Jr. may have been the actual maker. They are highly polished stainless, heavy, and have stag handles. Can anyone tell me any more information on this set and what the set is worth?

Life is good, Bob
 
I have # 588 dated 04-30-1986. I have seen one in the 6hundreds and have asked on kershaws facebook page if anyone knew how many were made.

IMG_0876.jpg

IMG_0878.jpg


sorry just saw the original date of this post.
 
Last edited:
mmkjohnson1 said:
I have # 588 dated 04-30-1986. I have seen one in the 6hundreds and have asked on kershaws facebook page if anyone knew how many were made.
sorry just saw the original date of this post.
Click to expand...

I saw the date and decided not to reply, then I saw that you posted a pic of yours and your question.

According to an article by Pete Kershaw production was supposed to be limited to 500 per year, Sache decided to retire during the second year of production. In theory this means that 1,000 or less were made.
Number 001 has a manufacturing date of 05/30/1985.

The article is on a store website, so I will refrain from hot-linking it, PM me if you would like to see the article.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top