Welcome Home...THANK YOU FOR BEING A PART OF OUR COMMUNITY

iKnife Collector

The online community of knife collectors, A Knife Family Forged in Steel

Another question for John McCain

Has anyone ever seen one of these? I'm nowhere near good enough at these old vintage pieces to know anything about this but I got my hands on it and have to figure out what to do with it. Anyone have any information they could share? It's a Solwa double tool with a blade and a file. It's got mother of pearl scales on both sides. The coolest part is that the blade and the file are spring loaded and deploy by pressing a little release on either side of the base of the handle. It's such a cool and unique little piece. It's German and spring loaded. Any ideas anyone? Here are some pics.

2 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by D ale on April 11, 2016 at 19:38

Wowza .. that is unique .. thanks for the pic of the inside & spring !!!

▶ Reply

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on April 12, 2016 at 13:38

David- Oh boy, have I had a time researching this gem- My head is still spinning, and I still don't have all the answers !! Okay, deep breath, where to begin?? The name Solwa is a trademark introduced in 1918 by the company E & F Horster founded in 1870 in Solingen, Germany. Other trademarks were Famexi, Horstator & Monika. Skipping forward, from 1933-1945, E&F Horster made bayonets,military swords, & ornate officers swords and knives for the Nazis. A very well respected and high quality company.They also made swords for Russia and Italy. After WWII, under the Solwa name, they made all sorts of cutlery- Stag handled hunting knives, throwing knives,manicure items, and other personal care items. They also made automatic knives.Bear in mind, the other trademarks were also used.Apparently the parent company and the trademark Solwa is still in use today. I kind of got lost in acquisitions and such, but apparently the Solwa name has some connection to the firm WSH cutlery of Germany now .The plot now thickens--- I spent hours searching for your unique knife with no success when I stumbled across this-What appears to be virtually the same knife circa 1940's made by Walter Broch Nagf of Solingen, Germany called the Fly Open Lobster pattern knife-It had a D.G.R.M designation which was a 3 year copyright protection, much cheaper than a patent. Walter Broch Nagf is also a very old firm, circa 1890. Now the question, which one made the knife for the other, or did Solwa just copy the knife after the DGRM protection run out.??To further muddy the waters, Walter Broch Nagf has a connection of some sort with Victorinox . Anyhow, here are my conclusions. Your knife is pretty rare, the handles are Pearlex (synthetic MOP), and is probably 40's or early 50's. The site I found the Walter Broch Nagf version said it had a list price of $299.99 but they were offering it for $149.99. Be aware, the knife has the definite cool factor,and a one of a kind feel, but I had to spend hours researching connections,translating both German & Russian to arrive at these conclusions.Super unusual is a 2 sided sword.-Rare is good, but so rare no one knows what they are looking at can be bad. IMHO, a rare knife made by a well regarded hi-quality company- Here are some pictures of the Walter Broch Nagf version and a link to the site where I found it where further info can be found.-One final note- The following pics show a yellow Pearlex handle material, but is listed as white Pearlex-- (yellowing with age ?? )

http://autoknife.com/index.php?m=&c=71&p=1807&l=product...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David on April 12, 2016 at 14:08

Wow, John, you are GOOD!!!! I'm even more confused now than I was before. What would you do with it? Hold on to it? After reading your whole answer, I'm thinking about adding it to my collection, though it will be very out of place. Thank you so much for all that information. I'm very appreciative. Anyone in our group have any ideas on what to do with this cool thing?

▶ Reply

In MemoriamPermalink Reply by John McCain on April 12, 2016 at 14:28

David- Your question is a tough one to answer- It is spring loaded, so Ebay is a no-go as are many other sites- Providing the info I have found may help a prospective buyer decide if they would like to purchase it, should you decide to sell it. If you do, I would suggest knife sites such as IKC or even others that would appreciate the history and rarity. The link I provided you earlier might even be interested in purchasing it, if that's what you decide. BTW, if anyone is turned off by the Nazi connection, E& F Horster also made Officer Mameluke Swords for the United States Marine Corps !! here are some pics of their USMC sword-

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by David on April 12, 2016 at 15:46

John, thank you so much for all of your help, insight and advice. I really appreciate you taking the time to provide all that info. Thank you so so much again!