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Victorinox | Sharpeners allegromedical.com |
Victorinox (pronounced /vɪktɵˈriːnɒks/ vik-tor-EE-noks) is a knife manufacturer based in the town of Ibach, in the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. Since its acquisition of rival Wenger in 2005, it has, once more, become the sole supplier of multi-purpose knives to the Swiss army.
[edit] HistoryThe company was founded in 1884. Since 1891, the company has delivered knives to the Swiss army. Their famous emblem — a cross in a shield — has been used by Victorinox since 1909. That year, the mother of founder Karl Elsener died and he named the company "Victoria" in her honor. In 1921, with the introduction of "inox" (the French term for stainless steel is acier inoxydable) into their products, the brand and name of the company became the present "Victorinox" ("Victoria"+"Inox"). On 26 April 2005 Victorinox acquired Wenger, the other official supplier of the Swiss Army knife. For now, Victorinox has announced that it intends to keep both brands intact. In 2006 the company had a workforce of 900 employees and the brand was known in more than a hundred countries.[1] The company currently produces about 34,000 Swiss Army knives, 38,000 multi-tools, and 30,000 household, kitchen, and professional knives per workday. Approximately 90 percent of its production is exported to more than 100 countries.[2] [edit] Products
[edit] Swiss Army knivesThe Swiss Army knife has been the centerpiece of Victorinox's business. Originally the sole supplier, since 1908 it has shared the contract with Wenger. A compromise between the two companies gave Victorinox the right to advertise as the Original Swiss Army Knife, while Wenger lays claim to the title of Genuine Swiss Army Knife. Although both brands remain intact, Victorinox has since purchased and taken over Wenger. Swiss Army knives are widely used outside the army. They are useful, multifunctional instruments, and are available in a wide variety of sizes and functional combinations. Even NASA astronauts have a Victorinox knife as standard equipment[3]. Victorinox knives have also been taken to Mt. Everest and the Arctic. The flagship model of Victorinox, the SwissChamp, is in the New York Museum of Modern Art's Permanent Design Collection. There is also an active Swiss Army Knife modding community, producing new models from cannibalised parts. [edit] SwissCardOne of the ways that Victorinox has tried to adapt to the decreased usage of pocket knives in recent years is the introduction of other forms of multi-purpose gadgets such as the SwissCard which is designed to fit wherever a few credit cards could go. The SwissCard is roughly the size of a business card, and typically has 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. These are housed in a hard plastic case of approximately 3 1/4 x 2 inches in size, with inch measurements on one side and metric measurements on the other. [edit] Multi-toolsSwissTools are Victorinox's version of Leatherman style multitools, ie a pair of pliers with other tools folded into the grips. [edit] FlashlightA number of Emissive Energy Corps products have been redesigned and rebranded as Victorinox LED torches. Most are available with a knurled Aluminum body, similar to Swiss Army Knives. [edit] WatchesThe Swiss Army brand has produced a number of pocket and wrist watches as well. They range from closable watches to classic bare clock watches. They can also be engraved. [edit] Kitchen CutleryA wide assortment of functional tableware and kitchen cutlery is sold by Victorinox without the Swiss Army brand. Additionally, Victorinox also markets kitchen cutlery under the Forschner brand name. Forschner knives, though most are stamped blade in construction rather than forged, tend to receive high marks in consumer comparisons, and have been consistently identified as particularly good values by the American magazine Cook's Illustrated, performing comparably to competition such as J. A. Henckels and Wüsthof. [edit] Brand extensionRecently, Victorinox has leveraged their brand image beyond the realm of blades into watches, writing tools, luggage (through TRG Group), and even apparel. This extension has involved licensing the use of the Swiss Army shield logo rather than production by the company itself. [edit] References
[edit] External links
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