Where can i find when the started production of each Victorinox model?

A good source of info on SAKs (both Victorinox and Wenger) is the book The Swiss Army Knife Owner's Manuel, by Michael M. Young. While I'm pretty sure it doesn't have the origin date of each model (I don't have the book in my hands at the moment), it does go into detail about the Soldier and the Swiss Officer models, as well as many other things SAK-related I haven't seen anywhere else.

There is a book out, newly released this year and which I haven't gotten yet, called Swiss Army Knives: A Collector's Edition, by Derek Jackson, which may be worth looking into.

Jim
 
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SAKwiki.com is a volunteer collectors' project. They don't have access to Victorinox or Wenger production records: Victorinox knows who they are and has answered some general questions, but that's as far as their support goes. Sometimes you can guess a first production year by checking old catalogs:

http://sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Victorinox+Swiss+Army+Knife+Catalogs

http://sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Wenger+Swiss+Army+Knife+Catalogs

Swiss Army Knights was another volunteer collectors' project which has gone defunct. There is information you won't find elsewhere in their archives, but you need time and forensic skills to dig for it.

http://www.swissarmyknights.com/articles

SAKwiki.com has an annotated list of reference books.

http://sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Book+List

I have read none of them, but I can offer two tips:

Derek Jackson's book has a new edition, published 4 September 2018, and a new title, Swiss Army Knives: A Collector's Edition. It is a cheap book on Amazon but I don't know if it's worth it or whether it has the information you want. There is a Google preview but it doesn't show much.

The best way to shop for any book online, in or out of print, is with the search engine http://www.addall.com/. Search with the book's ISBN:13 book number if you can find it. The best place to find ISBN numbers is Amazon but they don't always have the best price, and used book dealers in the Amazon Marketplace may charge less elsewhere.
 
As for the books online, I like to buy used from Amazon. Usually the book is $4 shipped.
 
VicAlox74 said:
I don't see it on sakwiki.
Click to expand...

If you click on the models name in sakwiki, it opens a page with a description of the model, and its different versions. Someplace on that page you will find production dates. At least all the ones I have checked had them. I don't know how accurate the information is.

O.B.
 
Smaug said:
As for the books online, I like to buy used from Amazon. Usually the book is $4 shipped.
Click to expand...

Amazon Marketplace is a big network of used book dealers, and since I use Amazon to find ISBN 10 or 13 numbers, more often than not I start my search there. Addall.com checks 22 book dealer networks including US, UK, Canadian, French and German Amazon. So I go there next to see if I missed anything.

Bigger dealers have books listed on several networks, and some of those networks offer deals you won't find on Amazon. For example, Abebooks mailing list mails coupon codes, the best of them good for 10% off any book in any dealer's listing.

Old Biker said:
If you click on the models name in sakwiki, it opens a page with a description of the model, and its different versions. Someplace on that page you will find production dates. At least all the ones I have checked had them. I don't know how accurate the information is.

O.B.
Click to expand...

Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but I'm not seeing that. Take Victorinox Climber for example.

http://sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Climber

Under History they tell you that

A Swiss Army Knife with this tool configuration, or very similar, was available for a long time before names were used for models. . . . The earlier Traveller model (1.3702/54591), was likely introduced in the late 1970s and was the progenitor of the modern Climber (early 1980s?).
Click to expand...

Under Variations they tell you that the 1891–1991 Centennial Climber was released in 1991, the Damascus Climber was released in 2011, the Beijing Opera Climber was released "in the late 2000s??" But they do not give the year of first production for Climber, Traveller, or earlier Swiss Army Knives with this tool configuration.

Some knives with shorter production histories do have first production dates: Champion (1952), SwissChamp (1985), Cybertool (2000), etc. But the most popular knives — Classic, Spartan, Tinker, Super Tinker, Climber — mostly draw a blank.
 
Piso Mojado said:
Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places, but I'm not seeing that. Take Victorinox Climber for example.

http://sakwiki.com/tiki-index.php?page=Climber

Under History they tell you that



Under Variations they tell you that the 1891–1991 Centennial Climber was released in 1991, the Damascus Climber was released in 2011, the Beijing Opera Climber was released "in the late 2000s??" But they do not give the year of first production for Climber, Traveller, or earlier Swiss Army Knives with this tool configuration.

Some knives with shorter production histories do have first production dates: Champion (1952), SwissChamp (1985), Cybertool (2000), etc. But the most popular knives — Classic, Spartan, Tinker, Super Tinker, Climber — mostly draw a blank.
Click to expand...

That is the area I was referring to. Like I said I didn't check them all, and I don't know if what is listed is accurate. In another thread it was said that the dates listed for the classic were wrong. Still I wouldn't call it a complete blank. It does tell you that the Traveller was introduced in the 70s, and the name changed to climber in the 80s. That should help narrow the search.

Down under identifiers it lists .
1.3702 Victorinox AN: Original 1970 Traveller - The Climber with no keyring.
54591 US Model: Original 1970 Traveller Climber with no keyring.

So it seems 1970 might be the first production date for that model.

O.B.
 
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