Question about solingen knives

[lreed]

I've been looking for some nice german made stag knives, and I am now totally lost about those solingen brands.

Many knives share very similar patterns, e.g., the "original bowie knife" and the "boot knife". And the bad thing is, sometimes even the seller can't really tell the differences between them other than the stamps on the blades. Someone told me that many brands such as bulldog, Wingen, Weidmannsheil, and puma, take knives from same small contract makers and stamp their brand names on them. Is that true?

 

[bob bowie]

You're running into a number of problems:

1) Contract brands- Bulldog, etc.... are importers. They contract to various factories to have knives built for them.

2) Standard patterns- Wingen, Puma, Hirschkrone, etc... are seprate factories, but they do/did copied designs from one another.

3) Old stock/parts knives- Wingen, and a few other brands have gone out of business, but they still leave finished knives that are then sold off the highest bidder. They also leave parts that are then finished off by others.

 

[Don Luis]

Common everywhere in the world, not just Solingen.

Luis

 

[lreed]

Thanks Bob for the quick answer.

So the brands such as Puma and Wingen have their own factories to make their own knives. But why I read on some webpages saying that lots of their knives are made or assembled in small family sites?
Also, about the old stock knives, are those knives left blank and etched whatever out-of-business brand name as the sellers' wish? If so, by what means can I decide whether a Wingen knife is original?

 

[bob bowie]

Thanks Bob for the quick answer.

You're welcome.

So the brands such as Puma and Wingen have their own factories to make their own knives.[/qoute]

Wingen went out of business in the mid-90's, but them, Puma, and a few of the other German firms all had their own factories.

But why I read on some webpages saying that lots of their knives are made or assembled in small family sites

Marketing. Many of the high-end German firms still have family involved in the business, and some hand work isinvolved in their manufacture, but they are still relatively large businesses. Most are not the cottage industries some report.

Also, about the old stock knives, are those knives left blank and etched whatever out-of-business brand name as the sellers' wish? If so, by what means can I decide whether a Wingen knife is original?

Some are old stock, factory knives that were made by the factory, but never sold.

Some are various parts that were marked by the company, but are finished off by someone else.

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As far as Wingens, you need to look at the finish/fit. I've seen some that look like legit old stock, while others were very sloppy and seemed to be "parts" knives. Wingen was a very fine company, their knives were finished and fitted well. If a knife seems a bit sloppy, skip it. Nice Wingens are still common, you can afford to pick and choose.