Is my Valet fake?

N

NorthFork707

Joined
Oct 30, 2019
Messages
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Hi there. Recently I got a Benchmade Valet from a local dealer. The dealer is actually quite well-reputed. What I know is the Valet I got from this dealer is new and of course has never been used or disassembled.

However there are two weird things I found on this knife. The first one is the screw head is not on the show side, which is quite unusual. The other one is there is no "USA" in the butterfly logo, which is different from any other Benchmade I own.

Can anyone help me identify whether this Valet is authentic or fake? Thanks a lot!

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i don’t own a 485 but looking online about half the images i’ve found show the female (non screw head) side of the pivot on the show side of the knife. i’m not sure if this is something that changed at some point in production of the knife over the years but that is a possibility.

as far as the blade not having usa under the logo, benchmade doesn’t mark any knives that use m390 for the blade steel since m390 is not produced in the us. it’s made by bohler out of austria.
 
mrfields said:
i don’t own a 485 but looking online about half the images i’ve found show the female (non screw head) side of the pivot on the show side of the knife. i’m not sure if this is something that changed at some point in production of the knife over the years but that is a possibility.

as far as the blade not having usa under the logo, benchmade doesn’t mark any knives that use m390 for the blade steel since m390 is not produced in the us. it’s made by bohler out of austria.
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Thanks for the reply. It sounds pretty reasonable. But I notice that many Benchmade Valets do have "USA" in their butterfly logo and they are all made with Bohler M390 steel.
 
i went on benchmade’s site & the picture of the 485 there has usa printed under the butterfly, so they may have changed that recently. also the pivot screw on there is facing the same way as on your knife.

if you can check the box the more recent ones have the production date on the end of the box in the lower left hand corner of the label
 
mrfields said:
i went on benchmade’s site & the picture of the 485 there has usa printed under the butterfly, so they may have changed that recently. also the pivot screw on there is facing the same way as on your knife.

if you can check the box the more recent ones have the production date on the end of the box in the lower left hand corner of the label
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I did not keep the box but I do remember this valet was produced in the year 2018. I've also checked some pictures online after reading your first reply and there are some looking just the same as mine. So possibly Benchmade did make some change to Valet in the past one or two years.

Thanks very much!
 
no problem. enjoy your new toy. the valet is a little small for my tastes but they look really nice.
 
mrfields said:
no problem. enjoy your new toy. the valet is a little small for my tastes but they look really nice.
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Valet is small but I can put all my fingers around the handle. The biggest problem is the thumb-stud and axis bar are too small, making it somewhat uncomfortable to open and close this knife.
 
My Valet, born in 7/17, doesn't have a "USA" under the butterfly either. And the pivot screw head is opposite the butterfly like yours. So I think you're OK -- I bought mine from a Premium Plus brick and mortar dealer nearby. My 555-1 also has the pivot screw head opposite the show side, but it does have the USA under the butterfly.
 
Babyboomer said:
My Valet, born in 7/17, doesn't have a "USA" under the butterfly either. And the pivot screw head is opposite the butterfly like yours. So I think you're OK -- I bought mine from a Premium Plus brick and mortar dealer nearby. My 555-1 also has the pivot screw head opposite the show side, but it does have the USA under the butterfly.
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Thanks for the information. It's really assuring. I've only seen butterfly logos without "USA" on Benchmade 484 and 485 models. So it might be a 4 series specific thing or might have something to do with M390 steel just as mrfields said.
 
I have four Benchmades with M390 blades and 3 of them are missing the “USA”. But my 551-1702 does have the “USA”. So one thing you can note about the consistency of the markings is that they’re inconsistent. :)
 
Babyboomer said:
I have four Benchmades with M390 blades and 3 of them are missing the “USA”. But my 551-1702 does have the “USA”. So one thing you can note about the consistency of the markings is that they’re inconsistent. :)
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So it's quite obvious that Benchmade is somewhat random about their logo. And I also notice that knives of a same Benchmade model may have their logo at different positions on the blade.
 
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