Kissing Crane(s)....German or Chinese?

A

Alnamvet68

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Mar 26, 2013
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How do you know if what you're considering purchasing in a Kissing Crane(s) knife is one that is 100% manufactured in Germany, or one that may be stamped "German", but in actuality had its parts stamped in China and put together in Germany? Perhaps these two boxes will help you decipher which one is the real deal...




 
You can't. For years kissing crane sold "stillettos" marked "Made in Germany"...they were really made in Italy. The company is really arogant, because the american market would probably have preferred it to be marked "Made in Italy" since it was supposed to be an Italian style stilleto.

So even if a knive is marked "Made in China" it still could be made in Pakistan :)
 
Nice try boatswain's mate, but no Cuban cigar for you. Now, the first correct response gets one of my Cuban seed Cohiba's hand rolled in Honduras delivered to your door (one cigar, not a box full) just for your intellectual prowess.:D

 
Well , I just bought a KK knife and it came in a box like the top one. It's stamped "China".
I would say the bottom box is actually made in Germany.
 
JPD1998 said:
Well , I just bought a KK knife and it came in a box like the top one. It's stamped "China".
I would say the bottom box is actually made in Germany.
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I have one that came in a box like the bottom one. It also is marked 'China'. So maybe neither is made in Germany?

ETA: the one I have says 'crane', not 'cranes', so I am confused?
 
Erphern said:
The box marked "Solingen" with the KC stamp is the German one...

...nothing else makes sense! :D
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Erphern you are first to recognize the difference, so PM me with your addy, and I'll fire off a cigar to you.

rinos said:
Kissing cranes are German and Kissing crane is Chinese
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rinos, you are the 2nd correct answer, and I would send you a cigar, but I'm not sure I won't start an international incident exporting a cigar to your neck of the woods.
 
I don't know what laws, if any, the German nation has on marking their products. But, I trust firms like Otter Messer to be real German made when marked as so. Others, like Linder, may not mark some of their products with any country origin. I think this is their way to kind'a fool you. Hey, it's not marked, and one buying it from Linder, a German knife company, means it's likely German, right?.... not! I have two mini fixed blades that are linder marked, but with no country of origin. But, combing over their leather sheaths, I discovered markings on their button snaps that were of Spain origin. Now my belief is that both of these mini fixed blade knives are Spanish made. I hate to say it, but deceit seems to be a big part of these no markings.... but more so when marked as made in, let's say Germany, but mostly if not all, made elsewhere. Germany has lost most of it's traditional cutlery makers, as has Britain and the US.... and now we have to be skeptical as to where current knives are actually made.
 
Oh, and yes, Kissing Cranes with the S are in fact wholly made in Germany; what a difference an S;) makes.
 
PocketKnifeJimmy said:
I don't know what laws, if any, the German nation has on marking their products. But, I trust firms like Otter Messer to be real German made when marked as so. Others, like Linder, may not mark some of their products with any country origin. I think this is their way to kind'a fool you. Hey, it's not marked, and one buying it from Linder, a German knife company, means it's likely German, right?.... not! I have two mini fixed blades that are linder marked, but with no country of origin. But, combing over their leather sheaths, I discovered markings on their button snaps that were of Spain origin. Now my belief is that both of these mini fixed blade knives are Spanish made. I hate to say it, but deceit seems to be a big part of these no markings.... but more so when marked as made in, let's say Germany, but mostly if not all, made elsewhere. Germany has lost most of it's traditional cutlery makers, as has Britain and the US.... and now we have to be skeptical as to where current knives are actually made.
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...and hence the rationale for my thread. The Kissing Cranes brand is, in reality, no more, replaced by Kissing Crane with no S, and imported by SMKW. There are still German made Kissing Cranes on the market, and on eBay as well, and knowing the difference between the packaging and the tang markings can mean the difference between joy or disappointment.
 
So, if you have a knife, but no box, you're sort of just guessing?

I have a "Robt Klaas" knife with the kissing crane shield, but no country of origin. I'm mostly 100% sure it's made in China, though.

It also has the "Rostfrei" mark.

I'd appreciate a look at the German-made tang vs. the Chinese-made tang, if you have it.

Thanks,
 
Daniel Dorn said:
So, if you have a knife, but no box, you're sort of just guessing?

I have a "Robt Klaas" knife with the kissing crane shield, but no country of origin. I'm mostly 100% sure it's made in China, though.

It also has the "Rostfrei" mark.

I'd appreciate a look at the German-made tang vs. the Chinese-made tang, if you have it.

Thanks,
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A German made KC will not have the "Rostfrei" stamp unless it's of Chinese origin; it should have a Solingen stamp, a pair of cranes with a Germany stamp, a ROBI KLAS stamp, and sometimes a model number, all stamped on the tangs. Also, if you have the box, the above applies, but another tell tale sign is that it should be "made" in Germany. If it says "hand crafted" in Germany, it means they imported the parts from China and assembled the knife in Germany.
 
Didn't notice the spelling differences.
However just by the design of the boxes you can tell.
The circular logos on the 1st boxes top and side aren't aligned properly to each other. That's the kind of details self respecting Germans would try to avoid.
Also the background design of the 2nd box looks more refined. While it is more busy than the 2nd, the overall impression of the 2nd box still manages to appear much cleaner and thought through.

btw. Once in India, I saw some cooking pots stamped as "made for Germany". Things is if that would be true it would be a first. Never seen some product in Germany with such a mark. My theory is that they were made in India for India and to make them more desirable they got that stamp to suggest export quality or to fool some not so carefully reading grandma into thinking that it was actually from Germany and not "for Germany"
 
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Buy Case or GEC and know that you are getting good quality USA made knives.:thumbup:
 
Alnamvet68 said:
rinos, you are the 2nd correct answer, and I would send you a cigar, but I'm not sure I won't start an international incident exporting a cigar to your neck of the woods.
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:thumbup:
no worries,i'm trying to quit anyway(more money for knives) ;)
 
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