Suspect Delica

[Paradiggum]

Hey everyone, so I just bought a couple of Delicas and something feels sketch about one in particular. I have quite a few Delicas but they're all many years old so I wouldn't expect all the stamping and everything to look the same. Every Delica I have where is says "Seki City" looks to be stamped. This one doesn't look to be stamped. The clip is also slightly different. But, my Delicas are generally from around 2010 and then a few from when they went flat ground. (Can't remember the year)
I just wanted some other opinions. It doesn't feel wrong if you get my meaning. The FRN feels like another new in box (older stock) Delica. It's just that writing on the blade looks wrong. Thoughts?

 

[on_the_edge]

I have never seen lettering like that on a Spyderco. Of course, that's not a guarantee that it's fake, but I'm pretty sure that it is. That "s", "j", "c", & "p" are all very poorly done, as is the "y". Even the second "a" in Japan looks bad.

 

[Paradiggum]

I have never seen lettering like that on a Spyderco. Of course, that's not a guarantee that it's fake, but I'm pretty sure that it is. That "s", "j", "c", & "p" are all very poorly done, as is the "y". Even the second "a" in Japan looks bad.

Yeah, I've never seen writing like that on any Spyderco. It almost looks engraved by someone using a dremel for the first time. I just wanted some second opinions before I started the return process.

 

[on_the_edge]

May I ask where it came from? Hopefully it will get taken out of circulation once returned.

 

[Paradiggum]

May I ask where it came from? Hopefully it will get taken out of circulation once returned.

I bought these two from Amazon. First time buying Spyderco from Amazon. Likely be the last. Sold by the Amazon.com Services Inc and not just a random vendor. I thought that would be more reliable than just a vendor on Amazon. I'll just stick with regular knife shops online going forward. That's been my policy up until now. I'd even looked into it and it seemed if it came from Amazon itself, then it would be genuine. At least they're good about returns.

 

[on_the_edge]

Amazon may have originally sold the genuine article only to have the buyer return the box with the fake in its place. It would likely be overlooked upon receipt back at Amazon. The same thing could happen at one of the regular knife shops, but it is much less likely since they know what they are looking at and they probably don't see a huge amount of returns.

 

[Paradiggum]

Amazon may have originally sold the genuine article only to have the buyer return the box with the fake in its place. It would likely be overlooked upon receipt back at Amazon. The same thing could happen at one of the regular knife shops, but it is much less likely since they know what they are looking at and they probably don't see a huge amount of returns.

I think I'll start the return process in the morning. These were bought for a couple of buddies that like mine. We're all left handed, hence changing the clip. I didn't know if they had torx bits. I've been carrying a Delica since 1998. Carried that D3 until the D4 came out and bought that. The black bladed one looks legit but now I'm weary so I'll probably return both and go to one of the online shops and get them.

 

[cdf293]

Amazon may have originally sold the genuine article only to have the buyer return the box with the fake in its place.

I wouldn't buy anything from Amazon that I wouldn't buy from eBay.
Feel free to do a google search for "Amazon may have a counterfeit problem".

 

[Megawatt308]

Already a couple post here and on the company forum about this type of stamping found on knives from certified dealers. It’s ok, it’s nothing to be scared about. On the spyderco forum many people actually liked the uniqueness of the appearance.

 

[cdf293]

BTW OP, sorry that you are having to deal with the returns. At least Amazon makes it easy.
Much like you, I always thought that anything shipped and sold by Amazon should be safe.

If anybody chooses to google search the above text, the first 2 paragraphs on Engadget.com are pretty telling.

 

[Paradiggum]

Already a couple post here and on the company forum about this type of stamping found on knives from certified dealers. It’s ok, it’s nothing to be scared about. On the spyderco forum many people actually liked the uniqueness of the appearance.

So you're saying it might be legit? The only reason I posted for other opinions is I have over 100 Spyderco knives and never have seen anything that didn't look stamped. But I haven't bought any Delica knives in several years outside of the S30V and Zome version. Many of my recent purchases were out of Golden or Taichung so I couldn't really compare. On the above knife, the opposite side where it states VG10 is actually stamped. It's the Seki side that gave me pause because of how sloppy it looked.
If I had to guess, I have probably 50+ Delicas. None of them have this kind of engraving. Having said that, most of them are from 2010 to 2015. (I'm guessing)
I have both of these knives in my collection and the black bladed ones I have don't have the gold writing, though my H1 Salt with the black blade does so I figured that's something they changed. My older Saber ground Delicas all have the "Seki City" stamped and not engraved. I figured I'd post here because someone is probably more familiar with more recent examples than the ones I have. I just didn't want to give a fake knife to a friend for Christmas.

 

[Paradiggum]

So you're saying it might be legit? The only reason I posted for other opinions is I have over 100 Spyderco knives and never have seen anything that didn't look stamped. But I haven't bought any Delica knives in several years outside of the S30V and Zome version. Many of my recent purchases were out of Golden or Taichung so I couldn't really compare. On the above knife, the opposite side where it states VG10 is actually stamped. It's the Seki side that gave me pause because of how sloppy it looked.
If I had to guess, I have probably 50+ Delicas. None of them have this kind of engraving. Having said that, most of them are from 2010 to 2015. (I'm guessing)
I have both of these knives in my collection and the black bladed ones I have don't have the gold writing, though my H1 Salt with the black blade does so I figured that's something they changed. My older Saber ground Delicas all have the "Seki City" stamped and not engraved. I figured I'd post here because someone is probably more familiar with more recent examples than the ones I have. I just didn't want to give a fake knife to a friend for Christmas.

I just found a thread on the Spyderco website forum where several people had this same type of engraving on their knives. Interesting. Now I'm not sure if I should return them or gift them.

 

[Chris "Anagarika"]

Look at the FRN teeth. On Endura, fake ones have some teeth missing around the center flat panel and at the end (butt) area. Also fake ones have the teeth less defined.

It’s more reliable sign than blade stamp. My Endura Superblue has similar SEKI stamp. None of my other Enduras are like that though.

On page 50 something Les Garten discussed about the FRN fakes.
https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/spyderco-fakes-knock-offs-info.796442/

 

[Kreyzhorse]

I don't believe those are fake. My latest Delica has similar stamping and it was bought from an authorized dealer.

 

[RipD]

Interesting. This makes me think they have a stamp that gets used less frequently and only as needed (when the need extra capacity). I would guess it'll get replaced with a better one once it wears out. This is pure speculation on my part. Source: I used to work on a tool shop that had to stamp metal. Stamps are expensive. You use them until you can't any longer.

 

[on_the_edge]

The knife is made in Japan. If it wasn't made in a wealthy industrialized country with tremendous technical ability, I might understand why lettering might be less than perfect. But why are most exactly what one would expect out of Spyderco and Japan while a rare few are different? Is the manufacturing process really that inconsistent? As far as uniqueness go, mine are unique because they get carried and see use. Even something stainless can get a rub mark or a scratch.

If the knife is real, then great. Still, it looks like it might not be. And as between that knife and one with the nice lettering the way most folks expect it to be, I think 9 out of 10 people are going to choose the nice lettering over the lettering that looks like it was done by hand while driving down a bumpy road.

Let us know what you decide to do.

 

[Dallas T]

Here’s an example of mine it’s around 5 yrs old

 

[Paradiggum]

Here’s an example of mine it’s around 5 yrs old View attachment 1018012

Yeah, all of my Delica models are stamped. Different stamps but none of them are sloppy like the one I was questioning. Most of mine are older, but I have a good sampling size. All of these are Delicas. Various colors, serrated, partially serrated, plain edge, flat ground, saber ground, different steels.

 

[Paradiggum]

The knife is made in Japan. If it wasn't made in a wealthy industrialized country with tremendous technical ability, I might understand why lettering might be less than perfect. But why are most exactly what one would expect out of Spyderco and Japan while a rare few are different? Is the manufacturing process really that inconsistent? As far as uniqueness go, mine are unique because they get carried and see use. Even something stainless can get a rub mark or a scratch.

If the knife is real, then great. Still, it looks like it might not be. And as between that knife and one with the nice lettering the way most folks expect it to be, I think 9 out of 10 people are going to choose the nice lettering over the lettering that looks like it was done by hand while driving down a bumpy road.

Let us know what you decide to do.

I did some poking around in some of the suggested threads, watched some videos. I think after looking and comparing that it's probably real. I did however do a return. Mostly because I can't be 100% sure and it's a gift. Also with that sloppy engraving on a gift doesn't sit right with me. Especially since the recipient has known me for years, known I've carried and talked up Spyderco for years. Wouldn't want him to be just playing around and looking at it one day, see that sloppy writing and think, "WTF?!?"
I just got back from the UPS store. Just to be safe I won't be ordering Spyderco from Amazon again.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[Sonnydaze]

Hey everyone, so I just bought a couple of Delicas and something feels sketch about one in particular. I have quite a few Delicas but they're all many years old so I wouldn't expect all the stamping and everything to look the same. Every Delica I have where is says "Seki City" looks to be stamped. This one doesn't look to be stamped. The clip is also slightly different. But, my Delicas are generally from around 2010 and then a few from when they went flat ground. (Can't remember the year)
I just wanted some other opinions. It doesn't feel wrong if you get my meaning. The FRN feels like another new in box (older stock) Delica. It's just that writing on the blade looks wrong. Thoughts?