Bloc Magazine Spring 15

WWW.BLOCHOTELS.COM // 17 Under the leadership of Karl, Carl I, Carl senior and now Carl junior, their brand has become a byword for form and functionality. Victorinox has now branched out into five product categories: pocket tools, household and professional knives, timepieces, travel gear and fashion. And in defiance of Swiss stereotypes the company has delivered it all with a sense of fun. The Guinness Book of Records recognised their monster XXL version, with 87 tools and 141 different functions, as the World’s Most Multifunctional Penknife. Although you would need impressively large pockets to carry it around. And you would need incredibly deep pockets to buy a pocket knife from their Victoria Collection. They unveiled the most expensive pocket knife of the world, studded with 800 flawless diamonds, in 2004. It would have cost £90,000 to buy one of the 120 pieces produced. In the early days Victorinox shared the contract to supply the military with rivals Wenger. A compromise between the two allowed Victorinox the right to sell the Original Swiss Army Knife, while Wenger laid claim to the title of Genuine Swiss Army Knife. But the Carls won in the end. Victorinox took over Wenger in 2005. THE FIRST EVER SWISS ARMY KNIFE THE MOST MULTI-FUNCTIONAL PENKNIFE THE 800-DIAMOND VICTORIA