Sosakonline Archive

Please note that all content in this section has been imported from our old Sosakonline website and may contain broken links. We are revising it as we can, but these things take time, and it's a lot of content to get through!

 Like the rest of us, celebrities suffer from a condition called mortality, and as such it seems that hardly a day goes by these days that we don’t hear about one or another passing away. Tragic indeed, but not usually the kind of thing we take note of on this website, so it’s only normal for you to be asking why we are paying attention to this one? Simple, Elizabeth Taylor has a Victorinox knife named for her, and we’ll honour her memory the best way we can- by looking closer at the knife that bears her name.

 

 The Liz Taylor model was part of a limited edition series of knives called the Urban Chameleon series, some of which have been showcased here in the past. Only one complete collection of Urban Chameleons exists as far as I know, and I own half of it, while the other half lives with another SOSAK member, and I’m sure one day the entire thing will be reunited one way or another! For those who don’t know, the Urban Chameleons were basically standard Waiter/Bartender models with fancy scales made by the Creative Factory Gmbh, and “creative” is an apt description if ever there was one, since there are hairy versions, leather versions and even stranger models.

 

 This particular knife is styled after the things Ms Taylor was perhaps most famous for, even more than her acting career- her diamonds. The scales of the Liz Taylor model are black velvet, inlaid with a pattern of (unfortunately!) fake diamonds, and are exactly what you would expect from a woman of her stature and class.

 

 Knife collectors will also be interested to note that the design of the Liz Taylor knife actually changed between the catalogue photos and the actual knife, which is what makes this knife one of the more interesting knives in what is a very noteworthy limited series.

 

 In the end, whether you were a fan of Ms Taylor’s work or not, if you are reading this you should at the very least be able to observe a moment of silence for a woman who warranted her own Swiss Army Knife based on her reputation alone. I can’t think of anyone else that fits in that category, so I’d like to say farewell to an actress who had a corner of our hobby, whether we knew it or not.