Whew! That was close!!!

Bill Siegle

Bill Siegle

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 3, 2000
Messages
6,814
Hit one of the local pawn shops today and bought a Sebenza for a nice price. Got home and started comparing it to my other Sebbie and darn it! I bought a fake!!!!! Luckily I returned it and got my money back without any hassle. I was shocked at how well the fake was made!!!!! It fooled me quickly! I did some research on line and here at BF especially and learned how to be a more secure buyer. I'd recommend all folks looking to buy used CRKs search up those threads to learn how to spot fakes. Even with a good outcome I wish I had known ahead of time.
 
Always sound advice.
There have been some amazing finds at pawn shops..but sadly, there have also been many more that figure out the proliferation of the clones.

The clone wars as it were..
 
I thought I'd found a nice older one on Craigslist recently. The knife in the pics was real, but what I got handed was a POS fake. :mad:
 
Even though it is awfully tempting, I avoid buying CRKs anywhere but here and authorized dealers for this reason! You are lucky you were able to get a refund...
 
Any chance you took pictures so we can compare the differences and/or see how close the clones are to the real ones? If not, would you mind listing the differences you noticed for educational purposes?
 
Saint 3:16 said:
Any chance you took pictures so we can compare the differences and/or see how close the clones are to the real ones? If not, would you mind listing the differences you noticed for educational purposes?
Click to expand...

I was reading through the comments and was hoping someone would ask this. It's too often people actually do buy fakes and are unimpressed with the outcome and could possibly have a bad review of the company
 
The lanyard cord was thinner than CRK's and that's what got me started questioning. Also I was not totally familiar with the exact lines of a Sebenza 25 so I assumed(that's rarely a great idea) that the handle was correct. I was wrong. If you search up "Sebenza 24" you will find the knife I had been sold as a Sebenza 25. One other difference I noticed when comparing it to an actual CRK Sebenza box was the sticker on their box was lacking the embossing. In the store I was all starry eyed and got sucked in due to my excitement:( Kind of embarrassing to tell the truth. Heck I even missed the fact that it didn't even have the logo! In hind sight it is glaringly wrong but if taken in at first glance, the finish, general shape, and colors were right.
 
At least now you know what to look for. Another sign of the real deal is the stamp code on the inside of the slabs.
The fakes are getting better.
 
It's probably easy for them to put a fake date stamp on the inside of the slabs, they already do for the CRK logo. Surprised they haven't yet since that's always what I look for.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top