Knife World had an article on prototypes. True prototypes are a knife assembled by a firm's master cutlers to sell a run of knives to someone looking for a SFO, like Waynorth. They are usually of high or custom quality and limited to one or to one of each cover material. The Japanese maker's prototypes made for Jim Parker are very collectible. IIRC many are not marked as prototypes.
Some firms stamp prototype on the first few knives, like "first production run" and this doesn't really mean anything outside of marketing or collector cache.
Some firms stamp prototype on the first few knives, like "first production run" and this doesn't really mean anything outside of marketing or collector cache.
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