Anthony Bourdain's custom Bob Kramer chef's knife going up for auction

tyyreaun

tyyreaun

Joined
Feb 26, 2017
Messages
2,834
The auctioneer is estimating it going for somewhere between $4K and $6K. That seems... super low, to me - given what Bob's knives regularly fetch, and the fact that Bourdain has a large following.

13bourdain-knife-superJumbo-v2.jpg
 
I agree. This knife is ALL over the internet in articles about his possessions auction (Over 200 lots). However, the NYT got it right:

"The knife for sale, which is expected to fetch the highest price of any lot, is a Bob Kramer steel and meteorite from Campo de Cielo in South America, which Mr. Kramer made for Mr. Bourdain and gave to him in 2016."

I predict $40k. It could go much higher. Direct info here.
 
Most auction houses under value to get bidding going, but I figure the knife will meet estimate and just maybe go over a bit.

To go higher. You would need someone who knows who Bob Kramer is (I had to look up the name) and is a big
Bourdain fan and willing to pay up for both.

If your a chef and know who Kramer is. Most likely you already have one (or more) of his knives, so would anyone step up and pay more for another because Anthony Bourdain owned it?

If a big Bourdain fan and the knife is the highest priced item. Then there are lesser priced items available to bid on if you want something from the estate

Could go high as Coop said. People paid thousands for $250 cookie jars when Andy Warhol died

Honestly. I like the teak desk far more than the knife

DON
 
paneraica said:
You would need someone who knows who Bob Kramer is (I had to look up the name) and is a big
Bourdain fan and willing to pay up for both.
Click to expand...
Don, in the world of high-end Custom knives, MY top six MOST sought after and collectible and EXTREME pricing are:

Ron Appleton
Bob Kramer
Ron Lake
Wolfgang Loerchner
Jurgen Steinau
Michael Walker

Bob is under the radar, yet in many circles he's mightily renowned. He consistently sells (auctions) his basic work over $20K Some as high as $50k with engraving (by Tom Ferry).

I have never captured a Bob Kramer knife. Testimony to his reclusive clientele.

We will see. :)
 
SharpByCoop said:
Don, in the world of high-end Custom knives, MY top six MOST sought after and collectible and EXTREME pricing are:

Ron Appleton
Bob Kramer
Ron Lake
Wolfgang Loerchner
Jurgen Steinau
Michael Walker

Bob is under the radar, yet in many circles he's mightily renowned. He consistently sells (auctions) his basic work over $20K Some as high as $50k with engraving (by Tom Ferry).

I have never captured a Bob Kramer knife. Testimony to his reclusive clientele.

We will see. :)
Click to expand...

C'mon COOP - you can afford one of each :D
 
paneraica said:
Most auction houses under value to get bidding going, but I figure the knife will meet estimate and just maybe go over a bit.

To go higher. You would need someone who knows who Bob Kramer is (I had to look up the name) and is a big
Bourdain fan and willing to pay up for both.
Click to expand...

This might help:

Anyway, it'll definitely go for above estimate, cause I'd buy it for more than $6,000 :p
 
paneraica said:
Most auction houses under value to get bidding going, but I figure the knife will meet estimate and just maybe go over a bit.

To go higher. You would need someone who knows who Bob Kramer is (I had to look up the name) and is a big
Bourdain fan and willing to pay up for both.

If your a chef and know who Kramer is. Most likely you already have one (or more) of his knives, so would anyone step up and pay more for another because Anthony Bourdain owned it?

If a big Bourdain fan and the knife is the highest priced item. Then there are lesser priced items available to bid on if you want something from the estate

Could go high as Coop said. People paid thousands for $250 cookie jars when Andy Warhol died

Honestly. I like the teak desk far more than the knife

DON
Click to expand...

One could EASILY argue that kramer is by far the most well known ABS mastersmith in history. He's been on tons of tv shows, written about in every major national and some international publications, thousands of website profiles and mentions. He may not be the 'top dog' with the hardcore knife crowd, but there isn't a smith alive whose name/brand is more known than his. Probably the first mastersmith to push mainstream audiences. Which is why he sells his knives via lottery auctions. if he hadn't ended his 10+year waitlist eons ago he woulda been backed up to a few decades after he died by now lol. I know chefs that would kill for a kramer knife, but never get a shot at the lottery auctions, and or can't afford the insane prices. He had one go for near $60k a while back i was reading. If this knife sells for anything short of $20k i would be SHOCKED
 
A family member who is a chef says the Kramer production versions are nice knives, but not really worth it to him. He doesn't see them used in professional kitchens despite the hype. One thing, kitchens are filled with thieves, he keeps his knives in a locked steel tool box; and a key lock, not combination.

Kramer originally was searching for the Frank Richtig magic steel/heat treat recipe. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/11/24/sharper

Since he now uses damascus steel, which Richtig did not, it appears he's left that search behind. Wonder if he figured out the heat treat recipe. Does anyone know?
 
brownshoe said:
A family member who is a chef says the Kramer production versions are nice knives, but not really worth it to him. He doesn't see them used in professional kitchens despite the hype. One thing, kitchens are filled with thieves, he keeps his knives in a locked steel tool box; and a key lock, not combination.
Click to expand...

Oh, I'm absolutely sure they're status items for successful restaurateurs or celebrity chefs, and rarely used. Just the fact he's including meteorite iron in his steel tells me it (probably) wouldn't perform quite as well as a knife made from a steel of known composition and heat treat recipe, like W2.

His production knives wouldn't have meteorite iron, of course, but are likely still overpriced given the branding.
 
tyyreaun said:
This might help:

Anyway, it'll definitely go for above estimate, cause I'd buy it for more than $6,000 :p
Click to expand...

really enjoyed that vid, and thought that smoking that tuna using a piece of meteorite was awesome. I wanna do that
 
I'd be shocked if this doesn't fetch more than $6k.

Bob's knives went from being the most sought after professional grade knives to collector unobtainium. Bob invested many, many years toiling in *relative* obscurity, refining his craft. He can now do what he wants; more power to him. I met him a couple times, he's a very nice guy. I regret not putting my name on his list earlier than I did.
 
The knife appears to have been used. I think that's very cool (assuming) that Bourdain used it and didn't lock it away. I sometimes wonder what a maker thinks about making a fine and capable tool, especially a high-end piece, that may very well spend its life sitting on a shelf or in a safe. That's an odd but interesting quandary to me, and I recall it being a subject that had quite a bit of division once when Lorien decided to put a very nice piece to use that had been the subject of a WIP thread. (A Wheeler I think it was Lorien?)

I watched that Raw Craft series a while back. I thought it was really good, even being just the short segments. If you liked that one on Kramer, the others are worth checking out as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top