Victorinox Swiss Army Knives From Switzerland

For all those MacGyver fans out there Switzerland is not just all about chocolate and spectacular scenery. Rather there is another great creation to have risen from the land of the snow capped Alps which makes them its fan and that is the concept of Swiss army knives.

Swiss army knives are incomparable to say the least. A Swiss army knife is practicality personified. It is like having an entire basic tool box in your pocket, the size of a large key chain.

This revolutionary idea took birth in 1884 with the opening of the Victorinox factory by Karl Elsner. The proprietor of the factory had previously been working in Paris as well as Germany as part of his apprenticeship. On opening his own cutlery shop Karl employed the use of grinding and polishing machines which made use of a waterwheel.

The Swiss army knife that we now so easily carry in our pockets was first designed for the army back in 1891. It was in this year that Karl introduced his invention to the Swiss army who went ahead and patented two of Karls creations, the Sports knife and the Swiss Officers knife.

Earlier only Karls company was lawfully permitted to provide the Swiss army with these knives but after some time the job was being shared by Wenger and Victorinox as well. Later according to the agreement between the two companies the rights to advertise the old school original Swiss Army Knife was given to Victorinox.

In 1909 Karl adopted the emblem consisting of the cross and a shield. Even today the emblem holds respect in terms of quality knives produced by Vitorinox. The name of the company came from Karls mothers name Victoria.

The name Victorinox was given by Karl who named the product after his mother and added the French term for stainless steel inox to it. This was done by Karl in his mothers memory after her death.

The Swiss Officers Knife was openly being sold at army stores following World War 2 to the American soldiers. The term Officers knife was dropped and as the amount of sales increased the knife became known as the Swiss Army Knife and is till date referred to as such.

The Victorinox due to its fast paced progress eventually took over Wenger. Now a day its being used by astronauts, mountaineers or ocean explorers as well. The company has introduced many of its new products like professional knives, household knives, watches, clothing, luggage which has given them lot of recognition.