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Italian stilettos

Nferro said:
Hi Palladin.. I have a RJ Richter that’s Made in Italy (Stiletto)..it belonged to my Father who has had it for at least over 55 years.. I can’t find any numbers on it..61/2” to 7” Blade..all Bone handle..Excellent condition..just has a Distressed look to it from age..Please let me know or give me an idea what it may be worth..!!! I would appreciate it…Thanks so much. !!!!
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I have no idea dude... Google is your friend

 
I read somewhere that most of them were handmade by in small batches by regular dudes and not really big knife makers. So pretty much most of them were almost one of a kind. This was probably back in the day when the wops first came over though. Wish I could find the article
 
45collector said:
Who else loves old Italian switchblades/ Stiletto Knives? I’ve been collecting them for years. Yesterday I found an oddity at the local flea market. It’s an RJ Richter, made in Italy. It looks like an auto but it has no mechanism/ cut outs for it. The button has a spring behind it, but it’s just a fake. Never seen one like this in 30+ years of knife collecting.

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It’s very well made and tight as a drum. For $5 I think it’s a steal. There was a genuine hitler youth knife next to it, marked at $200. No thanks.

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I've been a knife collector for years--mostly older Case XX folders and more recently Great Eastern. Now I've gotten interested in switchblades, and know little about them. I've got a few, but not enough to know what I"m doing. Here's my question: What's the quality of Italian stilettos? I'm talking about the medium priced ones, in the 100--200 range. Is the fit and finish good? Are the steels used high quality? How long do the springs last in general? Are these "real" knives or mostly toys? (Not trying to start a war here). Some of the vintage ones go for astonishing prices--comparable to rare old Case knives. I have the book "Switchblades of Italy," where the authors describe the switchblades of the 1950's (which they love) as "novelties." Hmmmm. . . Is it just rarety that makes these knives so expensive or were they really better made? Sorry for so many questions. In my state there's no place to go to actually look at and handle these fascinating knives.
 
since this was first posted i've picked up a few. my latest was an 11" frank b a few weeks ago.
 
I did some research prior to making my 1st put case and Settled on a Latama. 2 reasons, I wanted a good knife and it was available.

Once the Latama arrived I was wondering if it was worth the 2-4× price over the cheaper blades.

I purchased an AKC (I think) basically made by various manufacturers sold under one name.

The Latama was $340 the AKC was about $85. AkC felt cheesy in comparison, firing was lazy. Button was hard to push etc. I sold the AKC quickly in favor of a used Campolin from the early 2000s. Which was about $200$ it is a very nice knife as well. Not as nice as the Latama but night and day better than the AKC.

At some point I would like to get a Frank B but it is not a pressing concern.

3 modern makers that seem to sell quality and value will be Latama, Frank B, and Campolin.
 
I added this Walts Latama picklock to the collection a while ago. Very high quality but they do run a bit on the expensive side.
 

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Uzi2 said:
I had a few of them when I was a teenager......they're the cheapest pieces of crap knives ever made. The Mexican knock offs weren't any better.
Coming back from Mexico through the border at Loredo Texas, the customs had a half a bucket full of them with the blades snapped off at the checkpoint. I guessceveryone and their brother biys them from street vendors on the Mexican side of the border.

Now I use Benchmades.....75 times the price, 10,000 times the quality.
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Benchmade makes really good folders, carried a griptillian doing work in private security.
 
Tigerstripe said:
Have seen many reports of poor-quality control problems now. The griptilian came out in 2001, I got mine for duty use in 2003 and it was a sloid well-built folder, I still have it.
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Not the quality, the politics. They bragged on social media networks that they were working with the local LEOs to cut up stolen, surrendered and confiscated guns. It turned into a shit show with them saying they would never do it again. Matt
 
Matt_SERE said:
Not the quality, the politics. They bragged on social media networks that they were working with the local LEOs to cut up stolen, surrendered and confiscated guns. It turned into a shit show with them saying they would never do it again. Matt
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This ^

I’m done with them. And I was an authorized dealer of them many years ago.

I own none currently.
 
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