Victorinox
Victorinox is a Swiss knife and watch manufacturer founded in 1884 by Karl Elsener. In 1891 co-founded an association of Swiss knife makers but by the next year, most of the company had left because of fears they couldn’t compete with Solingen manufacturers. Elsener kept pushing to compete with Solingen even though it would cost him a great deal of money. In 1897, the company patented what is now known as the “Original Swiss Army Knife”, the knife was not used by the Swiss Army at the time but helped the company recover from Elsener’s competition with Solingen. In 1909 when Elsener’s mother died, he renamed the company “Victoria” in her honor and later renamed to “Victorinox” in 1921 which is a portmanteau of “Victoria” and “inox”, which is a French term for stainless steel. From 1908 to 2005, the manufacture of knives for the Swiss Army was partially Victorinox and partially Wenger. A compromise was reached when Victorinox marketed their knives as “Original Swiss Army Knives” and Wenger marketed their knives as “Genuine Swiss Army Knives”. Victorinox manufactures its watches in Switzerland and exports them all around the world. Karats is your destination for Victorinox watches in the Kansas City area. Karats has a large selection of Victorinox watches for sale. Karats also offers crystal, strap replacement, overhaul, oiling, movement servicing, or any other type of repair for your Victorinox watches. Karats is located in Overland Park, Kansas, and we look forward to meeting all your Victorinox watch needs.