Core77

Thilo Fuente, a Swiss designer who recently graduated from ECAL in Lausanne, has tired of the endless, meaningless variations on the Swiss Army Knife. In response, he's teamed up with Wenger, maker of the original, to "strengthen the original design values by quoting the great classics and modernising some of the most characteristic details." But we think he goes further, questioning the archetype of the folding pocket knife—for some, maybe it is more handy to have the tools hanging loosely around one's neck, for others the knife is a luxury item, suited best for preparing absinthe.

All his variations are the real deal, made from anodized aluminum and original Wenger blade steel. For example:

Bent: New, iconic look. Lets you grip the blade easily between two fingers without ever breaking off your fingernails. Good ergonomics.

Many more knives and process pics after the jump.

Kids: Inverts the pocket knife principle: One "blade" with several functions, each covered by a separate grip. Laying open of the function by easily pivoting away one of the two grips. No risk of injury. The play-in-the-woods-tool!

Grind: To use the blade, it has to be taken completely out of its sheath, where it is securely kept when not in use. It has to be turned manually and inserted again in the sheath into cutting position. I then gets secured by a watch-crown-like wheel. The clou: The blade can be sharpened on the grindstone which is almost invisibly integrated in the back of the knife. Like a mechanic watch, this knife wants to be treated with extra care and the use of it is almost ritual.

Absinthe: I admit: An anecdotic one... A personal Absinthe spoon for drinking Switzerlands very own traditional (and for a long time illegal) drink from the mystical Jura mountains. Put a sugar cube on the blade, pour water over it and let it dissolve through the original Absinthe Spoon pattern into your Glass and into the "Green Fairy". One-sided and conspirationally flat for inside pockets...

Letter: Why not turn a typical pocket object into a table object and conquer a new market? To illustrate this idea, here's a fixed blade Swiss Army Knife to open your correspondence.

Tools: The complete deconstruction of the Swiss Army Knife. Stripped to the very minimum, this set of Swiss Army Knife is a relative of the common hex wrench set. Handy, always ready to use.