Received my Cold Steel Cinquedea...

not2sharp said:
It is actually a very simple thing to buy. It’s primary purpose is to serve as a decorator item. So if you feel it looks decorative go for it.

edited to add:
All of the components (with the exception of the decorative handle pins) are steel. There is no zinc/pot metal.


View attachment 1564924

*The top knife is probably a 19th century reproduction. Note the old handle repair and the inlaid stones in the ricasso.

n2s
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Are both of those yours?
That top reproduction is pretty nifty in it's own right 😊
I would love to know what the writing on it translates to in English.

If I had engraving skills, I'd buy another Cold Steel Cinquedea and perform some elaborate engraving on it. I mean, it sure has a lot of blank canvas for an engraver to have at it! 😁
 
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PocketKnifeJimmy said:
....That top reproduction is pretty nifty in it's own right 😊
I would love to know what the writing on it translates to in English.....
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It is a reference to Lucretia Borgia, the Duchess of Ferrara (province in Northern Italy), and likely patterned after a medal struck in 1505. She was an (in)famous renaissance princess and the daughter of Pope Alexandre VI. In life she was described as beautiful (with long blond hair and blue eyes), charming and highly intelligent; she spoke 6 languages, played the lute and was educated in the humanities. She was also highly competent and actually ran the administration of the Vatican (at 21), an office usually held by a Cardinal and later on would steer the Province of Ferrara Italy through difficult times.

Although, highly regarded by most who knew her in life, she is given a reputation in history as a femme fetal and is said to have frequently poisoned people. There is no historical evidence of this, and seems to have been of a tragic pawn for her father and brother, who are known to have been power hungry murderers. They had her second husband murdered at the Vatican in front of St. Peter‘s, and her brother in particular would prove a blood thirsty ruler ( and former Cardinal ) in his own kingdom.

She is a popular tragic villain in art and fiction, and is the subject of a famous opera named after her, that was first performed in 1833. She is usually portrayed as a Cersei-like , although she may have been more like a Margarie Tyrell. Both characters were likely partially based on her.

n2s
 
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PocketKnifeJimmy said:
I hope the items you receive have zero issues and that you wind up extremely happy with them 👍😊👍
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The items arrived today, and they are perfect! The Cinquedea is beautiful, very nice workmanship and QC. The Sjambok is much nicer than the one that I purchased when they first came out years ago. I really couldn't be happier. Both items are totally impractical, but who says they have to be?
 
Took delivery of my Cinq. yesterday...the blade itself is pretty decent F&F...

I really like the balance and ergos.

the sheath, otoh, is crooked as a dog's hind leg...can't even begin to insert the blade...

I'll post up some pics tomorrow PM if I can get some good light.
 
That sure messes up an otherwise good thing 😔
It's the one negative that convenient online shopping brings with it, that being to not allow a good inspection of an item before dropping the cash on it.
I'd be willing to pay up to 20% more for items such as these at a brick & mortar store for the chance to inspect before purchasing them. But, as with most of you here, I do not have access to any sort of shop that sells these sorts of things, so I am at the mercy of having to order online, and then wait to see what I get.
I don't know what your decision will be on what to do with your specimen, but I know that the sheath not being acceptable to me, would cause my having to return the product for a full refund or exchange.
I hope all winds up well for you.
 
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Here we go...

NXpws6M.jpg


top / frog part oriented vertically, note the twist on the distal end:
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now, distal tip oriented vertically, note the frog end:
hRQDo2C.jpg


looked upon straight on, it looks pretty good for display purposes:
8RpwO59.jpg

szhdlgz.jpg
 
I have learned to be a little less critical when evaluating production items that involve a lot of hand craftsmanship, such as the item being discussed here.
That said, if it were just a tiny twist in the sheath, I'd likely try to tweak it back to a straighter look, and accept it if it were not all too bad.
But, what your pictures show is a major twisting that is unlikely to be tweaked to any normalcy, and so it is, imo, beyond an acceptable flaw. Nothing is perfect, I know, but this is just way too far from it to accept it if it were me having received it.
If your vendor source is a good reputable one, I'm sure they would take care of you if you decided to go for the exchange or refund 👍
 
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yeah, there's no twisting this back into form...

just from feel there seems to be some kind of hard substrate under the leather, maybe a lauan-like material? idk?

but whatever it is, it holds it's twisted shape without budging...

I get what you're saying about handmade stuff being imperfect, but I wonder what kind of QC lets something like this slip through...is there any QC at all?

Even if there's no oversight of the craftsman's work...what does it say about the craftsman him/herself? I would be ashamed to let this useless offal leave my bench.
 
Yeah, it surely is an obvious major flaw, nothing minor about it... QC seems to not have been present. Well, unless, the twist somehow formed after it was inspected... Don't know.
Good luck with your decision, Sir! 👍
 
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