- Joined
- Aug 4, 2013
- Messages
- 3,989
Not too many years back, I wanted to add a traditional Italian Stiletto to my collection. Well, the State I live in does not allow the automatic versions of them, so, I simply decided to get a few of the manual Italian Stiletto lockbacks to at least represent the genre within my collection.
The brand I found, 'Falcon, were not only Italian made Stilettos, but were also made by the makers of full automatic versions, that company being AGA Campolin. That, to me anyways, gave them a bit more cred.
I wound up acquiring three of them with the Falcon shield in their handle scales. One came in olive wood, one in stag, and the third in buffalo horn.
I also acquired two stag handled "stiletto like" specimens that have the Kissing Crane branding, but that were made by Falcon in Italy for Kissing Crane, (which was owned by United Cutlery at the time they were manufactured).
Truth is, the fact that the AGA's 'Falcon' stilettos were manual, not automatic, likely took away a lot of appeal from them. Also, being just manually opened lockback knives, their stiletto style didn't exactly make them very desirable for every day carry.
But, they were definitely a decent substitute for someone wanting to collect some Italian Stiletto knives without the legal hassles that their residence location gave for owning the automatic versions.
The Falcon Stilettos were very affordable, since they were likely not the greatest sellers for AGA Campolin' Falcon branch. They chugged along, one seeing them here and there, but were not exactly mainstream by any means. You really had to go the search engine route, because they were not carried by most knife vendors.
So, where did they go? Well, it seems that the Falcon Stilettos went way of the DoDo Bird. I'm not even sure how long ago, maybe just a few years now... But, they no longer make them.
This morning I went on the "bay" auction site to see if some were there. I seen very few, and no longer are they at the modest prices of $25 to $40, they seem to now range closer to $100+ for unused specimens.
Yup, they were always quietly in the background when in production, and it seems that they quietly exited that background that they were in.
They weren't of the highest quality, since I believe they were still mostly handmade, and far from being custom made knives. They weren't bad, just being simple and a wee bit on the crude side if compared to higher end knives. Still, they had a certain charm and coolness factor about them.
Now they will hold a footnote in the ever growing history of knives.
This picture here shows my buffalo horn scaled version Falcon, alongside one of my Kissing Crane branded "Stiletto like" Falcon made knives. As you can see, the Kissing Crane has a typical Stiletto type handle/frame, but lacks having a Stiletto blade. Still, it resides in my collection as well, representing the Italian Falcon in a different way.
And these few pics showing how they get displayed within some of my eclectic collection' display cases...
If you have some Falcon Stilettos, please share them here.
Also, if you have other examples of lesser known brand names that have gone the way of the DoDo Bird, please share those too.
The brand I found, 'Falcon, were not only Italian made Stilettos, but were also made by the makers of full automatic versions, that company being AGA Campolin. That, to me anyways, gave them a bit more cred.
I wound up acquiring three of them with the Falcon shield in their handle scales. One came in olive wood, one in stag, and the third in buffalo horn.
I also acquired two stag handled "stiletto like" specimens that have the Kissing Crane branding, but that were made by Falcon in Italy for Kissing Crane, (which was owned by United Cutlery at the time they were manufactured).
Truth is, the fact that the AGA's 'Falcon' stilettos were manual, not automatic, likely took away a lot of appeal from them. Also, being just manually opened lockback knives, their stiletto style didn't exactly make them very desirable for every day carry.
But, they were definitely a decent substitute for someone wanting to collect some Italian Stiletto knives without the legal hassles that their residence location gave for owning the automatic versions.
The Falcon Stilettos were very affordable, since they were likely not the greatest sellers for AGA Campolin' Falcon branch. They chugged along, one seeing them here and there, but were not exactly mainstream by any means. You really had to go the search engine route, because they were not carried by most knife vendors.
So, where did they go? Well, it seems that the Falcon Stilettos went way of the DoDo Bird. I'm not even sure how long ago, maybe just a few years now... But, they no longer make them.
This morning I went on the "bay" auction site to see if some were there. I seen very few, and no longer are they at the modest prices of $25 to $40, they seem to now range closer to $100+ for unused specimens.
Yup, they were always quietly in the background when in production, and it seems that they quietly exited that background that they were in.
They weren't of the highest quality, since I believe they were still mostly handmade, and far from being custom made knives. They weren't bad, just being simple and a wee bit on the crude side if compared to higher end knives. Still, they had a certain charm and coolness factor about them.
Now they will hold a footnote in the ever growing history of knives.
This picture here shows my buffalo horn scaled version Falcon, alongside one of my Kissing Crane branded "Stiletto like" Falcon made knives. As you can see, the Kissing Crane has a typical Stiletto type handle/frame, but lacks having a Stiletto blade. Still, it resides in my collection as well, representing the Italian Falcon in a different way.
And these few pics showing how they get displayed within some of my eclectic collection' display cases...
If you have some Falcon Stilettos, please share them here.
Also, if you have other examples of lesser known brand names that have gone the way of the DoDo Bird, please share those too.
Last edited:
