Victorinox Swiss Army Chrono Classic Brown 41mm. REF.00738

History

Victorinox  is a manufacturer based in the town of Ibach, in the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. It is well known for its Swiss Army knives. The Swiss Army knives made by Victorinox are made of Swedish steel from Sandvik. Since its acquisition of rival Wenger in 2005, it has become the sole supplier of multi-purpose knives to the Swiss army. It is the biggest manufacturer of pocket knives in the world; in addition, the have a well-know collection of watches.

The company was founded in 1884 as the workshop of Karl Elsener in Ibach. Elsener in 1891 co-founded Schweizerischer Messerschmiedverband, an association of Swiss knife manufacturers. Elsenser's Schweizer Offiziers- und Sportmesser was patented in 1897, later marketed internationally as Original Swiss Army Knife. On the death of his mother in 1909, Elsener named his company "Victoria" in her honour. The introduction of the Swiss coat of arms as company logo dates to the same year. In 1921, the company was renamed to the present "Victorinox", a portmanteau of "Victoria" and "inox", an abbreviation for acier inoxydable, the French term for stainless steel.

During 1908 to 2005, the delivery of knives to the Swiss Armed Forces was shared with Wenger. A compromise between the two companies stated that Victorinox would market their knives as the "Original Swiss Army Knives", while Wenger would market theirs as "Genuine Swiss Army Knives". Wenger was acquired by Victorinox in 2005. Knives actually made for the army (as opposed to the generic "Swiss Army" trademark) are known as Soldatenmesser ("soldier knives"). These were produced in five generations, known by the date of their introduction as models 1890, 1908, 1951, 1961 and "08" (with minor variants within each generation).

Timepieces: In 1989 Victorinox entered the timepiece business in the United States under the brand name "Swiss Army".

Victorinox has various collections of watches which range from luxury dress watches to rugged dive watches. They feature mechanical and quartz movements. The timepieces are produced in Switzerland.