If there was a list of knives this year that everyone can’t wait to get their hands on, the Victorinox Swiss Cheese Knife would be pretty close to the top. The funny part is that Victorinox didn’t have a lot of fanfare about this one, and yet it’s garnered a lot more interest than any other new product, at least judging by the response on the various forums.
That might have a lot to do with the fact that it wasn’t really promoted- this knife was initially supposed to be a special offering with a limited market, but due to the response, I have been told that these knives will soon be available outside of Europe from Authorized Victorinox Dealers everywhere, so send Tim (Felinevet) a message for pricing and availability info if you want to add one to your collection.
So what makes the Swiss Cheese Knife so exciting? Other than the initial “You can’t have it” limited market it was meant for, the Swiss Cheese Knife has a few interesting features that allow it to stand on its own. The first and most obvious is the cheese knife itself, which is something new, not a re-jumbling of parts pokies online to create a “new” model. The blade is a typical cheese blade, with two points and three cutouts to reduce drag when cutting. Being something of a cheese aficionado, I have given the cheese blade a good workout and pronounce it quite effective!
In addition to the cheese blade there is also a standard 80% serrated 111mm blade with the side lock. Printed on the front side of the blade is “Schweizer-Kase-Messer, Couteau a Fromage Suisse, Coltello da Formaggio Svizzero, Swiss Cheese Knife” and the back of the blade has “Switzerland-cheese.com” etched into it.
Naturally, what good would cheese be without a glass of a good hearty wine to go with it? To that end, Victorinox has also included a corkscrew on this knife- after all, what good would a cheese tasting be without a nice Bordeaux?
Interestingly enough the Swiss Cheese Knife comes with a toothpick, but no tweezers, This is perhaps because the back scale is a standard red 111mm scale while the front scale is somewhat different, with the standard shield being replaced with a large white Swiss Cross, similar to the ways some of the Dutch Army and similar knives are emblazoned with their own crests.
Now that this one has been thoroughly tested though, this one is headed for the collection, not for regular use, despite becoming a regular line model soon. It represents some interest to me as a collector piece, but not really as a user, as its functions are pretty restricted. It will take a respected position next to my Leatherman Flair where it will wait until such time as I play polo with the Blue Blooded types or go to parties with Paris Hilton.