I have been thinking about the subject of serializing knives and thought we should discuss it, to hear varying opinions pro and con.

Personally, I am against serializing knives, not against the issue of making a limited edition of a particular knife, nor against stating that any particular production run consists of a particular number of knives, be they 3, or 25, or 50, or 150, or 300. What I don't like is engraving or etching that information either on the blade or on the bolster, and actually I prefer my blades to be clean without any factory logo and etching, although I do make an exception for the deep blade stamp UN-X-LD on some of the #36 Sunfish which I think looks great. I don't mind serializing the knives on the COA either, that's all fine by me.

I am a photographer and an artist and as such I am very familiar with the concept of limited editions. However, by law (as it applies to limited edition prints, whether they are photographs or etchings) once the edition run has been completed, then the negative (in photography) or the plate (in lithograhy) must be destroyed so that no further prints can be produced and so that the integrity of the series and of its limited production is guaranteed. No, I'm not asking GEC to destroy anything, relax.

Now making knives and making prints are two different things, I know. In the making of art prints, the artist is also allowed by law to make a few more prints than the number declared in the edition, and these are called "artist's proofs" which are necessary in the process of perfecting the making of the print. These "artist's proofs" are very often slightly different than the examples in a final edition, and represent examples of the artist's work in obtaining the perfection achieved in the final production and they are all marked AP.

GEC has always been very honest and straightforward in their reporting the year end tally of all of their production, both serialized, unserialized, one offs and short runs, and as a collector that honesty and information is invaluable.

The question I continually ask myself is why serialize? If the edition says that there are 50 knives, in the reality of creating and producing that series there are a number of unserialized knives made as well, or you could call them "artist's proofs". I find that the unserialized knives are indistinguishable from the serialized ones, in fit and finish, save the etch or engraving on the knife, they all equally reflect the quality we have all come to know and love from GEC. In addition some of the unserialized knife production runs, those special limited runs like the recent #46 in Elephant Ivory (3 total) or the most recent Spiral Cut Buffalo Horn #46 (9 total), are made in even more limited quantities than some of the serialized knife production runs. So, some unserialized production runs are rarer and thus more valuable to a collector than a serialized knife, and some serialized knives are exactly the same and from the same production run as an unserialized knife, but cost a bit more. I have seen unserialized knives that are much prettier (scales) than the serialized ones from the same run. So what's the point of serializing and why does it affect the price and collectability of a knife?

Additionally, serializing creates problems for some who may be into numerology, or have special attachments to certain numbers, and may affect the way they buy, or don't buy knives. Some colectors are not even interested in a serialized production run that crosses their own personal threshold for rarity, some won't collect from a run that crosses the 25 unit run, or 50 unit, and so on. Some want a number that reflects their birthdate, or their address, or their lucky number, and some don't want the number 13 (if you're American) or 17 (if you're Italian) because they're unlucky numbers, or do want the number 8 (if you're Chinese) because it is lucky. And finally some just don't care what their number is, because they're looking at the beauty and finish of the scales and the blades, and that would be me.

In conclusion, I guess I just don't think serializing is important, and I don't like it, aesthetically, to be permanently emblazoned on the knife, but I do appreciate knowing how many examples of each knife and each handle material have been produced each year and find that to be the most valuable information that in turn affects the relative value to a collector of any one knife. So my advice to GEC would be, keep the blades and bolsters clean and free of numbers (tang stamps are OK) and put all of the information you want on the COA, which should accompany each and every knife made by GEC regardless.

What do you all think?