Ordered a Kershaw Golden Dagger 3pc set made by Wingen/Othello of Solingen Germany, (vintage late 1980's/early 1990's)...

jeepin said:
I’ve never heard of this company before you posted these, Definitely a great partnership between Kershaw and them.

I really love seeing Vintage Kershaws like this.
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I too just very recently discovered this old brand and it's history 😊

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I've truly learned so much history from being involved in my collecting hobby... And, I find the learning to be half the fun 👍

One of my biggest sources for learning is right here on Bladeforums. That being the case, I try sharing a lot of what I myself have learned.
It's a constant giving and receiving of information... I learn from people here, and I try to teach a little in return.
A win/win situation.
👍😊👍
 
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I just had a "duh" moment with these knives.
They all have a little bit of gold on their blade etches, (Golden Eagle, Golden Boar, Golden Bear), but I just realized that only the Golden Eagle model has it's solid brass handle gilded with gold.
The Bear & Boar models do not have a gold gilding on their brass handle.

I went ahead and looked at a bunch of photos online of these knives, and it does seem that only the Eagle has the gold gilding.

I imagine that after they did the Eagle versions with the gold gilding, they may have simply decided to not do it on the next two knives in the series to lower overall costs. I mean, they were slated to make 5,000 of each model in this three knife series, and by cutting out the gold gilding on the 10,000 knives that would make up the total numbers of the second and third models in the series of knives... Well, their savings in gold use went down considerably.
I mean, gold gilding, gold wash, gold plating, or whatever name and method is used to apply gold onto the brass handles, no matter how thin of a plating it is, would likely wind up being quite expensive on 10,000 knives.

Still, like "duh", I just noticed this morning the gilded handle status of the Golden Eagle! 😅

Anyhow, it would have been a nice touch if they all had the gilded handles, but even without it, the brass on the un-gilded knives don't show any signs of heavy brass tarnish, like being heavily browned or green. They are slightly darkened, but not much at all. They don't seem to have a clear lacquered finish on them, so maybe they have a wax or some other treatment to help them from getting tarnished... Dunno 🤔
 
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While the original display case that came with my Kershaw knives is in nice shape, it's red felt interior lining looked a little aged.

So, this morning I headed out and picked up a yard of red satin/silky appearing material to cover the display' original lining.

Since I like to keep things as original as possible, I decided to cut the new material to the size I needed and simply tucked it's edges along the edges of the old lining.
In other words, the new material only covers the old lining, leaving the old covering totally unharmed beneath it.

In my opinion, the satiny look of the new cover really gives the display a more regal look than the original smooth felt material gave it.
👍😊👍

The view with the display' glass top opened...

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The view with the display' glass top closed...

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Those sure look nice!

I was thinking about the gold leafing. It is a skilled job that takes time and isn't a usual cutler skill so it likely went to someone else for that which adds time, materials and such. Everything that costs time and money has to be paid for by someone and on a contract like that you have to provide what you agreed to in the time frame and within the costs agreed on even if you end up losing money. I'd imagine it was something they were glad to do away with. Think about how many old cutlers went under in that time frame here in the US too. We lost some really great old names and talent as well as jobs to globalization.

Joe
 
The Mastiff said:
Those sure look nice!

I was thinking about the gold leafing. It is a skilled job that takes time and isn't a usual cutler skill so it likely went to someone else for that which adds time, materials and such. Everything that costs time and money has to be paid for by someone and on a contract like that you have to provide what you agreed to in the time frame and within the costs agreed on even if you end up losing money. I'd imagine it was something they were glad to do away with. Think about how many old cutlers went under in that time frame here in the US too. We lost some really great old names and talent as well as jobs to globalization.

Joe
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Thank you, Sir! 👍

And, yes, what you state is very true. These three knives were made during the last ten years that Wingen/Othello was still in business, just so many of the old school cutleries have continued to go way of the DoDo Bird.

There is good news for those that truly enjoy modern folders... That genre seems to have taken off like wildfire.
As for me, the modern stuff, although much of it is very high quality made, just doesn't ring my bell.
Yup, I simply love traditional stuff 😊

As a matter of fact, I have added quite a few vintage knives to my collection during the past few years.
They seem to tickle my fancy the most
👍😃👍
 
Great set thanks for posting that.
I have an Othello dagger I picked up a few years ago, beautifully made. :)
 
Steven65 said:
Great set thanks for posting that.
I have an Othello dagger I picked up a few years ago, beautifully made. :)
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Thank you!

I know times change, but when I was growing up, (I was born in 1965), items made in Germany were really prized as being of above quality. Of course during those times there were two Germany Nations, East and West. But, yeah, if one thought of guns, Walther and Heckler & Koch came to mind. If it was a car, BMW and Mercedes Benz were known as top quality vehicles. Knives... Well, all sorts of brands, like Puma, were right up there in the known quality range.
Too bad Germany began outsourcing their brands like the USA has done... Now so many German brands have either went DoDo, or are partially or completely made in other parts of the world.

They sure took pride in their manufacturing sector... Obviously today being a dying practice.

The above knives that I just recently purchased, and an Wingen/Othello boot dagger purchased right afterwards, are adding to my "made in Germany" count within my collection. I don't believe I had enough German representations, and these will help to rectify that.

Actually, I just ordered a Bulldog brand pocketknife that was Germany made in 2006, (5th generation?), to also help in my "made in Germany" collection count. I think I'll be good for now 😅
 
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PocketKnifeJimmy said:
Thank you!

I know times change, but when I was growing up, (I was born in 1965), items made in Germany were really prized as being of above quality. Of course during those times there were two Germany Nations, East and West. But, yeah, if one thought of guns, Walther and Heckler & Koch came to mind. If it was a car, BMW and Mercedes Benz were known as top quality vehicles. Knives... Well, all sorts of brands, like Puma, were right up there in the known quality range.
Too bad Germany began outsourcing their brands like the USA has done... Now so many German brands have either went DoDo, or are partially or completely made in other parts of the world.

They sure took pride in their manufacturing sector... Obviously today being a dying practice.
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I too was born in '65. (all the best people were 🤣)

In South Africa German products were definitely considered the elite.
In knives it was definitely Puma. The Puma's of the 60's and '70s were magnificent.
 
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
Thank you!

I know times change, but when I was growing up, (I was born in 1965), items made in Germany were really prized as being of above quality. Of course during those times there were two Germany Nations, East and West. But, yeah, if one thought of guns, Walther and Heckler & Koch came to mind. If it was a car, BMW and Mercedes Benz were known as top quality vehicles. Knives... Well, all sorts of brands, like Puma, were right up there in the known quality range.
Too bad Germany began outsourcing their brands like the USA has done... Now so many German brands have either went DoDo, or are partially or completely made in other parts of the world.

They sure took pride in their manufacturing sector... Obviously today being a dying practice.

The above knives that I just recently purchased, and an Wingen/Othello boot dagger purchased right afterwards, are adding to my "made in Germany" count within my collection. I don't believe I had enough German representations, and these will help to rectify that.

Actually, I just ordered a Bulldog brand pocketknife that was Germany made in 2006, (5th generation?), to also help in my "made in Germany" collection count. I think I'll be good for now 😅
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I have the Eagle Dagger myself and the middle brother has the Bear with the youngest brother having the Boar. Our father had as a job, after leaving Audionics of Oregon, working with Kershaw Knives for quite a while. He did their print advertising and I assume other jobs while there. He would gives us brothers sets of various Kershaw Knives releases. Such as number matching belt buckle and knife set, a pre carved ivory or bone handled folder and the Bar-B-Que multi blade set and I even have the Kershaw survival knife in its big black cordura sheath with Velcro closures. I had forgotten about some of these until I started this reply to you. Kershaw goes my Kai Cutlery last I heard. I’ve carried Kershaw knives almost exclusively for decades now and had not even realized that I was. In fact the last knife I bought was by the maker.
 
StillRockinPdX said:
I have the Eagle Dagger myself and the middle brother has the Bear with the youngest brother having the Boar. Our father had as a job, after leaving Audionics of Oregon, working with Kershaw Knives for quite a while. He did their print advertising and I assume other jobs while there. He would gives us brothers sets of various Kershaw Knives releases. Such as number matching belt buckle and knife set, a pre carved ivory or bone handled folder and the Bar-B-Que multi blade set and I even have the Kershaw survival knife in its big black cordura sheath with Velcro closures. I had forgotten about some of these until I started this reply to you. Kershaw goes my Kai Cutlery last I heard. I’ve carried Kershaw knives almost exclusively for decades now and had not even realized that I was. In fact the last knife I bought was by the maker.
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That’s awesome!
 
jeepin said:
That’s awesome!
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Indeed. It’s been a while since I’ve dug out my dagger. It’s still in the cardboard box the display case came in. I think I’ll dig it out tonight or tomorrow and mount it after all these years on a wall in the living room. LoL
 
I've been collecting vintage Kershaws for awhile.

The most interesting knives ever made by Kershaw were made when Peter Kershaw formed & was still involved w/ the company between 1974-1998.

My favorites Kershaws are the early Hattori designed knives from the Hunter series made in the 1st few years of the company's existence.

These and other vintage Kershaws, including the Golden series, are regularly offered for sale on EB for very reasonable prices.
 
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