I might be done with Case for a while...

[SpySmasher]

Victorinox made a Classic with a bit of gold embedded in it. It costs several times the price of a regular Classic. Should the fit and finish of the knife be several times better? Or is the value of the gold the reason for the increase in price? Seems clear to me that it costs more because of the gold. But if would seem that most folks here think the fit and finish of the knife should somehow be several times better than a regular Classic.

Your point is well taken, though it leads to the obvious question, "why bother putting a gold inlay into an otherwise cheaply made knife?" Even though it falls to consumers to understand exactly what they're buying there is still a strange dissonance between upgrading materials but not upgrading the fit and finish alongside it. Of course, that would seem to incur even more costs. I guess what I'm saying is build a budget knife or build an expensive knife, don't build some unsatisfactory Frankenstein's monster.

That doesn't change the truth of your point, of course. It just means I can understand how the knife described by the OP could be judged, in the end, not worth the money.

 

[supratentorial]

If the value of the gold implemented was say $100 but the price was increased by $300 then that's when I would expect better f&f in the same way I think that a $50 price increase on a steel upgrade that costs marginally more (as in not close to $50) to implement should also include a f&f upgrade. If the price increase only reflected the material upgrade then I wouldn't expect a f&f increase. It just comes down to cost increase ratio for what I'm getting.

Regardless of whether or not the knife has the gold bar and regardless of the price, the rest of the knife is the same. That is the reality of how the knives are made. It's one's perception of the knife that changes based on price. I can appreciate that our satisfaction is dependent on the price.

 

[supratentorial]

Your point is well taken, though it leads to the obvious question, "why bother putting a gold inlay into an otherwise cheaply made knife?" Even though it falls to consumers to understand exactly what they're buying there is still a strange dissonance between upgrading materials but not upgrading the fit and finish alongside it. Of course, that would seem to incur even more costs. I guess what I'm saying is build a budget knife or build an expensive knife, don't build some unsatisfactory Frankenstein's monster.

That doesn't change the truth of your point, of course. It just means I can understand how the knife described by the OP could be judged, in the end, not worth the money.

There's also a Victorinox classic with diamonds. It's a good question about values. I don't have an answer except people buy it.

My point about the OP's knife is that only the steel was upgraded. Similarly the Victorinox Pioneer with Damascus blade is the same as regular Pioneer except for the blade upgrade. It's much more expensive even though the rest of the knife is the same.

I have no objection to the knife being returned by the OP. I haven't seen the knife. I can't judge the faults. But if he's not happy with it, he should return it.

My point is that a steel upgrade does not mean the entire knife is a higher quality knife. The 154 cm steel should perform better than TruSharp. The rest of the knife is the same.

 

[brancron]

With Case knives, I generally try to stick with buying vintage ones (pre-1970s or so), because the fit and finish tends to be higher. I will make an exception for new Cases when I'm buying one at a brick-and-mortar store and have the opportunity to examine several/pick the one with the best fit and finish.

For example, I got to choose this new Sodbuster Jr. out of a group of about 10:

The ones I didn't choose had one or more of the following issues: small amounts of blade play, off-centered blades, worse grinds, or just not as attractive covers. This is one of the biggest advantages of having a local knife shop rather than an online dealer. All knives (even Sebenzas!) have slight variances so it's a joy to be able to choose yours out of a litter.

 

[popedandy]

Sorry to hear that about your 154CM trapper. I bought one from the same dealer (Collector Knives) and it was extremely well done.

 

[Sabercat]

I don't really feel that the more expensive features on the same knife increases expectation of better quality, but the increase of cost should raise the expectation of quality control.

Whether it's better steel, or gold inlay, or mammoth ivory scales - I don't expect the fit and finish to be better than normal, but I do expect it to be scrutinized a little more before being boxed up. Not only do I have more money riding on the knife, but the manufacturer does too.

 

[brownshoe]

This has turned into another candidate for Feedback: GB&U. Moving it there.

Good! The bitch threads in Traditional are getting old and really belong here from the get go.

Case has too many nice products to pull the plug and be done with them. Right now, I buy Case at the hardware store, BassPro and Cabelas. Most are OK, many are great. I buy Case Bose on the web, 4 so far and never got a bad one.