After about 120 years manufacturing the Swiss Army knife, Wenger SA is retiring from the knife business.
Victorinox, the former rival and current owner of the Wenger brand, announced that it is only going to be selling Swiss Army knives under the Victorinox name from now on.
Wenger, which has now expanded into other areas, including watches and travel gear, will continue to sell these other products however.
The company dates back to 1893 when the cutlery house of Paul Boechat & Cie was given a contract to produce knives for the Swiss Army. The company was later bought and renamed Wenger not many years after. Wenger was successful for a century, serving as a fruitful rival to Victorinox. After 9/11, the company took a big hit when the Swiss Army knives were taken out of airports due to concerns over having sharp objects aboard planes.
With Wenger reeling for these challenges, Victorinox swooped in and saved the brand from bankruptcy. Both brands continued to manufacture knives, even though they were owned by the same company.
This move makes sense for Victorinox because the two brands that have always competed against each other are finally unified. Still, it’s going to be pretty strange to only have one brand for Swiss Army knife.But it’s time to say goodbye to a legendary brand of Swiss Army knives.
Eli Law is a freelancer who blogs about knives, the outdoors and tons of other topics. When he’s not contributing to blogs about awesome outdoor adventures, he’s writing over at Grandview.
February 27, 2013 at 12:04 pm
[ Smiles ] I didn’t know that there was a blog devoted to knives (Well, now I know).
By the way, I enjoyed your article.
March 1, 2013 at 9:09 am
One additional and important note is that the Wenger factory in Delémont Switzerland will remain fully operational and will continue to produce Swiss Army Knives, kitchen and professional cutlery. Production from the Delémont factory will be under the Wenger brand for 2013 then, going forward, will transition to the Victorinox brand.