Victorinox
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Victorinox is a knife manufacturer headquartered in the town of Ibach, in the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. Since its acquisition of its rival Wenger in 2005, it has again become the sole supplier of knives to the Swiss army.
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[edit] History
The 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 changed the name of the company to "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.
[edit] Products
[edit] Swiss Army knives
The Swiss Army knife is the product that 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 for everyday life and are available in a wide variety of sizes and functional combinations. Even NASA astronauts have a Victorinox knife as standard equipment[1]. 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] SwissCard
One 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 thick credit card would go.
[edit] SwissTool
SwissTools are Victorinox's version of Leatherman style multitools, ie a pair of pliers with other tools folded into the grips.
[edit] Watches
The 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 Cutlery
A 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 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 extension
Recently, 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
- ^ NASA. NASA confirm use of Victorinox knives. Retrieved on 2006-12-11.
