1986 Kershaw Damascus Dagger from Solingen

[BRad704]

I posted this over on Knifedogs already, but thought some of you might enjoy it as well...

One of the guys I work with has been following along with my knifemaking and kept telling me about this damascus dagger that he got back in the 80's while working for Snap-On. He finally found it and brought it for me to see today... WOW! What a beauty!

They told him it was a "~$1600 value" knife, but he has no idea and has NO intentions of selling it...

He said since he has had it, I am the only person other than him to handle it, and this is only the 3rd time it has been out of its display case!

 

[hso]

I was skeptical of the estimated value until I say that Manfred Sachse forged it. You may be a touch low! Sachse's book on Damascus is worth a shocking amount of money when you can find the English language edition. Any actual work by him is very rare.

 

[BRad704]

I'm still not sure on that... I saw an ebay sale that closed for this same knife with a SN in the 100's... final cost was $300... But I don't trust anything about ebay. Maybe the seller didn't know what he had.

 

[Chase.]

Hello,
I believe I can speak with some authority regarding the value of this knife. I am a professional knife maker, and deal in custom knives and swords. I also just sold this exact same knife but with a much lower serial number on eBay. I saw one sold several years ago for about $700, unfortunately the price on these has since gone down. I initially attempted to sell mine through various knife web forums for about $600... no sale. I spoke to a few other professional knife dealers I know and learned of the diminishing price. I was told I'd be lucky to get over $200. I ended up selling via eBay at a $300 reserve (something I don't normally do). Since then I saw one with a 200's serial number sell at $100!!!
The problem is that the market has been shifting. Fifteen years ago knives like this were much more popular. Today people want a knife that is... unique. The market has been shifting to full custom. The fact that the knife was made under Kershaw with hundreds of other identical knives is only going to decrease value, unfortunately. The other thing is that knives of this type do not appreciate in value well. Everyone who gets one keeps it in its case and barely touches it. In another twenty years almost all of them will still be in mint condition.
Lastly in terms of value you have the more common case variety with white/ivory interior, the red is slightly preferred. I believe there is an even rarer glass top variety that is even more preferred. Also there should be another piece of paperwork with a short history of "damascus" steel (interesting as these knives are not damascus, they are pattern-welded).

Best regards!

 

[Gordon]

I bought quite a few Kershaw Soligen knives from Snap On dealers in the 80s, you could charge them on the truck as tools! I didn't buy this one but bought the complete Restrike German Bayonet knife sets over the years, the Eagle, Boar and Bear. I sold them 5 years ago for more than double what I paid , Thank goodness.!

 

[BRad704]

Wow... you nailed every detail on this one! Perhaps it was your sale that I saw on ebay for $300...

There WAS another piece of paper, but I didn't take a picture of it.

This knife is worth far more to my friend than he could sell it for, so I don't think he really cares what it is worth, and I am not going to tell him.

 

[content]

Hello friends and neighbors // I hope he enjoys owning the Sachse Damascus.

That is a beautiful example.
Thanks for the rare treat.