Victorinox () is a knife

manufacturer Manufacturing is the creation or Production (economics), production of goods with the help of equipment, Work (human activity), labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary se ...

and

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their par ...

based in the town of Ibach, in the

Canton of Schwyz The canton of Schwyz ( ; ; ; ) is a Cantons of Switzerland, canton in central Switzerland between the Swiss Alps, Alps in the south, Lake Lucerne to the west and Lake Zürich in the north, centred on and named after the town of Schwyz. It is one ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. It is known for its Swiss Army knives. Since its acquisition of rival

Wenger Wenger was a Economy of Switzerland, Swiss cutlery manufacturer that exists today as a brand of once-rival Victorinox, used for knives, watches and licensed products. Founded in 1893, it was best known as one of two companies to manufacture Swi ...

in 2005, it has become the sole supplier of multi-purpose knives to the

Swiss army The Swiss Armed Forces (; ; ; ; ) are the military and security force of Switzerland, consisting of land and air service branches. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are ...

. It is the world's biggest manufacturer of

pocket knives A pocketknife (also spelled as pocket knife) is a knife with one or more blades that fold into the handle. They are also known as jackknives, folding knives, Everyday carry, EDC knife, or may be referred to as a penknife, though a penknife may a ...

; additionally, the company licenses its logo for watches, apparel, and travel gear.

History

Founding

The company was founded in 1884 as , the workshop of Karl Elsener in Ibach. In 1891, Elsener co-founded an association of Swiss knife manufacturers. This began their relationship delivering knives to the

. In 1892, most of Elsener's knife craftsmen left knives manufacturing as it became apparent that

Solingen Solingen (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, 25 km east of Düsseldorf along the northern edge of the Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr. After Wuppertal, it is the second-largest city in the Bergisches Land, and a member of ...

manufacturers could deliver at a lower price. Elsener persisted in competing with Solingen, hence incurring severe financial losses. Elsener's was patented in 1897, and was later marketed internationally as the ''Original Swiss Army Knife''. This knife was not adopted by the Swiss Armed Forces as ordnance, but its commercial success allowed the company to recover financially. Upon the death of his mother in 1909, Elsener named the brand "Victoria" in her honor. The same year, the Swiss coat of arms was introduced as the company logo. In 1921, the company changed its trade name to the present "Victorinox", a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of "Victoria" and "inox", an abbreviation for ''acier inoxydable'', French for

stainless steel Stainless steel, also known as inox, corrosion-resistant steel (CRES), or rustless steel, is an iron-based alloy that contains chromium, making it resistant to rust and corrosion. Stainless steel's resistance to corrosion comes from its chromi ...

. Its legal name was officially changed in 1979.

Original versus Genuine

From 1908 to 2005, the delivery of knives to the Swiss Armed Forces was shared with

. A compromise between the two companies stated that Victorinox would market their knives as the "Original Swiss Army Knives", while Wenger would market theirs as "Genuine Swiss Army Knives". Wenger was acquired by Victorinox in 2005. Knives actually made for the army (as opposed to the generic "Swiss Army" trademark) are known as ("soldier knives"). These were produced in five generations, known by the date of their introduction as models 1890, 1908, 1951, 1961 and "08" (with minor variants within each generation). Model 1890 was originally produced by Wester & Co, Solingen, and produced by Elsenser in competition with the Solingen manufacturer. Models 1908 and 1951 were also produced by several companies in Germany and Switzerland. Model 1961 was produced exclusively by Victorinox and Wenger, and Model 08, introduced after the acquisition of Wenger, is exclusively manufactured by Victorinox.

Swiss army issued knives: 1890–2008

Wester & Co 2.JPG, ''Modell 1890'' Swiss Army pocket knife, 1900.jpeg, ''Modell 1908'' SAK 1951.JPG, ''Modell 1951'' Swiss Army Knive opened.jpeg, ''Modell 1961'' (1994 variant) Soldatenmesser 08-2.JPG, ''Soldatenmesser 2008''

Wenger acquisition

On 26 April 2005, Victorinox acquired

, the other official supplier of the Swiss Army knife, announcing that it intended to keep both brands intact, only separate entities. In 2006, the company had a workforce of 900 employees. Its daily output was about Swiss Army knives, multi-tools, and household kitchen knives. Approximately 90% of its production is exported to more than 100 countries. To avoid this, they set aside profits during boom periods to supplement recessionary periods as well as temporarily contracting employees to other companies as outsourced labor during recessions. On 30 January 2013, Victorinox announced that the company was merging Wenger's knife product lines with the Victorinox brand to strengthen its competitive position internationally.

Bushcraft usage

The Farmer model was adopted by the ''Bushcraft'' community as their folding knife (circa 2005).

Products

Swiss Army knives

The Swiss Army knife is the best-known product by Victorinox. Originally the sole supplier, Victorinox has shared the contract with Wenger since 1908. A compromise between the two companies gave Victorinox the right to advertise as the ''Original Swiss Army Knife'', while Wenger laid claim to the title of ''Genuine Swiss Army Knife''. Victorinox took over Wenger in 2005. Swiss Army knives are widely used outside the army (and civil sales represent most of the turnover). They are multi-functional tools, and many sizes and functional combinations are produced.

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

s each have a Victorinox knife at their disposal as ''standard equipment.'' Victorinox knives have also been taken to

Mount Everest Mount Everest (), known locally as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Qomolangma in Tibet, is Earth's highest mountain above sea level. It lies in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas and marks part of the China–Nepal border at it ...

and the Arctic as well. The "Champion", Victorinox's flagship model, prior to the introduction of the "SwissChamp" in 1986, is displayed in the New York

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

's Permanent Design Collection.

SwissCard

The SwissCard is roughly the size of a business card, typically with a small pair of scissors, a short non-folding knife, a small file with a screwdriver point, a plastic toothpick, tweezers, a slim ballpoint pen, and a straight pin, housed in a hard plastic case of 82 × 54.5 x 4.5 mm in size, with an inch ruler on one side and metric measurements on the other. Victorinox produces three types of SwissCards, the ''Classic'', the ''Quattro'' and the ''Lite'' model. All three models differ in the number of functions they provide, ranging from 10 (Classic) to 13 functions (Quattro and Lite).

Cutlery

Victorinox has long produced other kitchen cutlery under their own name and the Forschner brand name. In 2011 Victorinox stopped using the Forschner name and has since manufactured the same knives only with the Victorinox name.

Professional knives

Victorinox make a range of household and professional ( NSF certified) food preparation knives. They offer chef's knives, bread, carving, filleting, deboning, paring, Santoku and specialized knives such as a cheese knife. Victorinox models are made with molded plastic handles, wooden handles or riveted handles. Most models have stamped blades, but one series has a forged bolster. They also have no ''

ricasso A ricasso is an unsharpened length of blade just above the guard or handle on a knife, dagger, sword, or bayonet. Blades designed this way appear at many periods in history in many parts of the world and date back to at least the Bronze Age—ess ...

'' – the flat section of the blade located at the junction of the blade and the heel. Most models use stainless steel blades and one type is also available with ceramic blades.

Bayonets

Victorinox also produces the Sturmgewehr 90

bayonet A bayonet (from Old French , now spelt ) is a -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , now spelt ) is a knife, dagger">knife">-4; we might wonder whethe ...

for the Swiss Sturmgewehr 90 assault rifle. The bayonet has an overall length of 310 mm and a muzzle ring diameter of 22 mm. The 177 mm long blade is single-edged and it has no fuller. The bayonets were manufactured exclusively for the Swiss Army by both

and Victorinox before the two companies merged.

Timepieces

In 1989, Victorinox entered the timepiece business in the United States under the brand name "Swiss Army"."Victorinox: History"
swissarmy.com, Victorinox corporate website Victorinox has various collections of watches which range from luxury dress watches to rugged diving watches. They feature mechanical and quartz movements. Collections include Infantry, Heritage, Divemaster, Airboss and I.N.O.X. The timepieces are all produced in Switzerland. In 2014, Victorinox introduced the I.N.O.X. range of watches which it claims are resistant to high levels of shock, including being run over by a tank.

Luggage and clothing

In 2014, Victorinox acquired the TRG Group from Centric Group. For several years, TRG Group was the Victorinox licensee for the manufacturing of luggage and travel-oriented products. Victorinox integrated TRG Group in the company as the Victorinox Travel Gear division. In 2017, Victorinox decided to close the apparel division with the purpose of focusing in other core product lines.

Others

Victorinox produced a fashion line up until the late 1990s, but retired from this project in 2017. In 2012, Victorinox licensed its name to luggage manufacturer TRG Accessories to produce branded travel gear and business accessories. Victorinox acquired TRG Accessories from Centric Group in 2014. A number of Emissive Energy Corps products have been redesigned and rebranded as Victorinox

LED A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (corresp ...

flashlight A flashlight (US English) or electric torch (Commonwealth English), usually shortened to torch, is a portable hand-held electric lamp. Formerly, the light source typically was a miniature incandescent light bulb, but these have been displaced ...

s. Most are available with a knurled

aluminium Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

body, similar to Swiss Army knives. Similarly, SwissTools are Victorinox's

multi-tool A multi-tool (or multitool) is a hand tool that combines several individual functions in a single unit. The smallest are credit-card or key sized units designed for carrying in a wallet or on a keyring, but others are designed to be carried ...

s, i.e. a pair of pliers with other tools folded into the grips.

Operation

North America

In 1972, the Forschner Butcher Scale Company of

New Britain, Connecticut New Britain is a city in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. It is located approximately southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. The city is part of the Capitol Planning Region, Connecticut, Capitol ...

became the exclusive Victorinox distributor for the United States. In 1981, the company went public, and Charles Elsener, president of Victorinox, acquired a significant percentage of its shares. In 1983, it was renamed the Forschner Group, Inc. In the 1980s, Forschner registered the Swiss Army name as a trademark in the USA. In 1992, Precise Imports Corp., a U.S. and Canadian importer of Wenger knives, sued and Forschner retained the rights to use the trademark on its compasses, timepieces, and sunglasses, while Precise could use it in marketing other non-knife items. In the mid-1990s, Forschner changed its name to Swiss Army Brands, Inc. (SABI). In 2001, Victorinox teamed up with SABI to establish an international watch company, Victorinox Swiss Army Watch AG. In August 2002, Victorinox acquired all remaining shares of SABI to gain control of the Swiss Army trademark. Previously, SABI had sold the Swiss Army branded watch in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and—under the license—the Victorinox branded watch outside North America. But afterwards, the combined Victorinox Swiss Army brand has been marketed worldwide.

Trademark issues

In 2018, Victorinox marketed a

perfume Perfume (, ) is a mixture of fragrance, fragrant essential oils or aroma compounds (fragrances), Fixative (perfumery), fixatives and solvents, usually in liquid form, used to give the human body, animals, food, objects, and living-spaces an agre ...

under the name "Swiss Army", and registered "Swiss Army" and "Swiss Military" as trademarks under US law. In October 2018, the Swiss Federal Office for Defence Procurement (

Armasuisse The Federal Office for Defence Procurement (Armasuisse) is a federal agency of the Swiss Confederation. It is the procurement organization for armaments of Switzerland and is affiliated with the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection ...

) sued Victorinox, demanding the removal of these trademarks from the marketplace. The context of the lawsuit is a 2012 parliamentary motion by state councillor Thomas Minder requesting the active protection of trademarks such as "Swiss Army", "Swiss Military" or "Swiss Air Force" on the part of the federal authorities. Victorinox argued that it does own the (English-language) trademarks "Swiss Army" and "Swiss Military".Maurizio Minetti
Der Bund gegen Victorinox vor Gericht: Streit um «Swiss Military»
Luzerner Zeitung, 18 October 2018.

Gallery

File:Victorinox SwissChamp Closed.JPG, "Victorinox SwissChamp", with multiple tools File:Bayonet SG550.JPG, Bayonet for the Sturmgewehr 90, as issued by the

Swiss Army The Swiss Armed Forces (; ; ; ; ) are the military and security force of Switzerland, consisting of land and air service branches. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are ...

File:Victorinox Multitool.jpg, Victorinox SwissTool

File:Victorinox pokrowiec.JPG, Victorinox knife pouch File:Victorinox kitchen cutlery.jpg, Victorinox kitchen cutlery File:Victorinox-Climber.jpg, Victorinox Climber File:Victorinox-Electrician-Alox.jpg, Victorinox Electrician File:Victorinox-Money-Clip.jpg, Victorinox Money-Clip File:Victorinox-Weekender.jpg, Victorinox Weekender File:Victorinox-Spirit.jpg, Victorinox Spirit File:Victorinox-111mm.jpg, Victorinox One-Hand Master RT File:Victorinox-Craftsman.jpg, Victorinox Craftsman File:Victorinox-Broker.jpg, Victorinox Broker File:Victorinox-Pioneer.jpg, Victorinox Pioneer

References

External links

Official website

SAKWiki
{{Coord, 47, 0, 57, N, 8, 38, 54, E, display=title Kitchen knife brands Knife manufacturing companies Multi-tool manufacturers Manufacturing companies established in 1884 Manufacturing companies of Switzerland Companies based in the canton of Schwyz Swiss companies established in 1884 Swiss watch brands Swiss brands Tool manufacturing companies of Switzerland Watch manufacturing companies of Switzerland Climbing and mountaineering equipment companies Schwyz