My 2 cents on GEC serial #'s

Stelth said:
How do you take off the etchings? There are a few GEC's I wanted but balked at due to the hokey blade etchings.
Click to expand...

A couple swipes with Simichrome polish will remove the black part of the etching- poof! All that's left is a very thin, ghost of the etching that's the same color as the rest of the blade- it's hard to see, not noticeable unless you're looking for it. If you let a patina develop, you won't be able to see anything at all.

I have done this to all of my GEC's with blade etchings, and they look 100% better afterwards. Just rub 'em down with Simichrome (or Flitz, or what have you) and your blade-etch woes are gone! :D:thumbup:
 
I liked the Furtaker but simichrome wont help with the foolish looking beaver shield...to me it messes up a very good looking knife.
 
joe bob you're the man, i totally agree with your premise. makes a lot of sense. i have a lot of gecs but lack the finer knowledge yourself & black mamba possess.
dennis
 
Blues said:
I know why they do all the serial numbers and etching but I'll bet there are a whole bunch of us out there who like me would be much more inclined to look seriously at some of the offerings if they could be obtained without all the hoopla.

A tang stamp and shield would do it up just fine for me. It doesn't have to be totally sterile.
Click to expand...

What Blues said. About the time I find one I want to pull the trigger on I back out cause it looks like a sign on the Vegas strip...
 
Maybe I am tasteless but I do not mind the etchings. They remind me of the old Remington, Imperial, Colonial, etc. etches.

Weren't blade etches pretty popular in older knives?
 
Legible blade etches in the old knives command a premium. Personally, I like the GEC knives so much that the etch/serial number controversy isn't really an issue to me. If pressed, I would say ditch the serial numbers on mine unless they are personally significant to me, like a birth year or some such. I must say, on a related note, that most shields on most knives are really ugly. The nicest ones are the old elegant ones like the propeller, bowtie, and bullock, with NOTHING written on them. The UnXLd shield is not bad. Round shields are invariably horrible. Does anyone sense some subjectivity here? :D
 
tongueriver said:
I must say...that most shields on most knives are really ugly. The nicest ones are the old elegant ones like the propeller, bowtie, and bullock, with NOTHING written on them.
Click to expand...

GEC does indeed produce knives with blank shields. I like their "cloud" shield best.
 
Agreed, joe-bob on the cloud shield. I also really like the long, curved, modified bar with NORTHFIELD shield as found on the #61 congress pattern. I would like to see that one used on the equal end #53 pattern as well, centered just like on the congress.
 
I never understood marking knives 1 of xx when they are producing hundreds or thousands of the same knife.... The knives are not going to be rare anyway with a huge production run.

I understand its a marketing thing, but IMHO it is more likely to attract folks that are maybe just getting started in collecting. However, I could be completely wrong though.

I would rather see a company make a series of knives that has a total of 100 pcs, and that is it for that particular knife. The knives wouldn't have to have any special markings on it, but they could included a piece of paper that notes there were only a total of 100 pcs made, and when they were made.

Someday those may be hard to come by, but it still doesn't guaranty that they will be collectible though.
 
tongueriver said:
Legible blade etches in the old knives command a premium. Personally, I like the GEC knives so much that the etch/serial number controversy isn't really an issue to me. If pressed, I would say ditch the serial numbers on mine unless they are personally significant to me, like a birth year or some such. I must say, on a related note, that most shields on most knives are really ugly. The nicest ones are the old elegant ones like the propeller, bowtie, and bullock, with NOTHING written on them. The UnXLd shield is not bad. Round shields are invariably horrible. Does anyone sense some subjectivity here? :D
Click to expand...

Oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ;)

I am very new to this hobby (fun) and I was a little shocked to see TWO

round shields on a folder. WTH? Boker maybe?

But to each his own. :thumbup:

Dennis has a pretty picture of a left hand cocobolo linerlock 73 with a blank

shield. NICE. I have one like it (no picture) My grand daughters initials will be

going on it. She is the only leftie in the family :D
 
338375 said:
I would rather see a company make a series of knives that has a total of 100 pcs, and that is it for that particular knife. The knives wouldn't have to have any special markings on it, but they could included a piece of paper that notes there were only a total of 100 pcs made, and when they were made.
Click to expand...

GEC used to label the knives, "1 of 250" but if you look at the production numbers, many, if not most, didn't get that high at all. Now they label only the serial numbered knives as 1 of 50 or 1 of 25. Even so, the totals produced are never in the thousands, most are small runs of less than 100 of a knife with xxx handle.

The Red Stag lockbacks were a run of about 30. The Grape Toothpicks were a batch of 8. This sort of thing is why collectors need to be knowledgeable about the "trivia" of the stuff they collect.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top