What to Collect
or
A Collection Strategy
A collection of knives can have a theme that is ultra-wide. "I collect all knives that take my fancy"; or it can be a thematic collection.
- knives of a particular style or pattern from any maker
- knives from a particular maker
- knives of a particular style or pattern from one maker
- knives with a specific purpose
- knives with a specific handle material
- knives to illustrate different handle types
- knives from a particular era, or of particular historical interest
- and so on.
Thematic collections are fun, but even the most ardent thematic collector will still add knives to their collection just because they take their fancy at a particular moment in time.
The "collector's syndrome" is well recognised by many companies making knives. They produce knives for collectors! It is big business. And we fall for it! (Well, quite a lot of us do). It isn't unusual for a manufacturer to produce, what after all is the same knife, 25 or more knives per year with variants. Different bone colour handles, different jigging (the pattern in the bone), different material handles, different shields, commemorative issues, limited editions, and so on. All of the same knife of the same pattern. Other manufacturers produce just one knife of each pattern, with one handle type. Honest to goodness "user" knives. And you know what? They are going out of business. Fewer and fewer people buy fewer knives to use, more and more buy knives to collect.
We knife collectors are part of the syndrome. Its addictive.
However, just collecting is one thing. But collecting and classifying, and doing something with that information is another thing altogether. You know, its strange, but nobody has a definitive list of all knives ever produced by, for example, major manufacturers such as Case or Queen. Something that can't be said of postage stamps for the whole world! Therefore, as a collector, one can also become an historian and an authority on a particular type of knife. An expert. The book hasn't yet been written!
Of course, there's nothing to say that you have to do anything other than collect what you fancy, and put them in a display case or a drawer someplace. But it just becomes more interesting if you can classify what you have.
A question that is often asked is "should I use the knives in my collection, or keep them in mint condition?". Only you can answer that! Sure, a mint condition knife, with all of its original packaging will hold its value or increase in value more than a used one. By the way, the term "mint" means that it is as it came from the manufacturer - you haven't sharpened it, and you have never cut anything with it.
On the other hand, what are knives for? The decision is yours.
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Left: part of a varied collection of mother of pearl handled knives
Photographs by Rod Neep