Smith & Wesson Dealer Display Cases & Knives

[jeed]

Hello, I won both of these sets through a gun / knife auction. I have never seen the smaller case other than in the book "The Knives of Smith & Wesson" after receiving the items and examining the knives it has raised several other questions. I'm hoping someone out there is knowledgeable about these.

According to the book the knives were made in these quantities;

Folding Hunter - 35,000
Bowie - 15,000
Outdoorsman - 13,000
Survival - 17,500
Skinner - 15,500
Fillet - 4,500
Fisherman - 4,500

I'm assuming because of production numbers the Fillet & Fisherman came early or late in production and the display case was adjusted in size??????

Some like knives are marked Made In U.S.A. - some not?????

Some like knives the S&W logo has a banner & date, some don't?????

Again I'm assuming these differences come from production dates. Does anyone know the answers?

Thanks!!!

 

[coneologist]

S&W knife displays

The smaller display case held the first production knives. Later, when the fillet and fisherman knives were added a new 7 knife display was added for dealer to show the full line. The book on S&W knives by the late Clarence Rinkey is the bible on S&W knives. Now that you have those two sets you can go after the 4 'One Thousand' collectors series knives. Once you collect all 4 you can find the presentation case that holds all 4, or once in every blue moon a set with all 4 having the same serial number will show up for sale.

 

[Hawkeye#28]

S&W Factory Dnife display cases

I have the larger case. Have managed to fill it with multiples of the the Deluxe versions of these knives, most of which came from the J&G offerings of their late owner Joe DeSaye. Was almost successful in obtaining a set with the same SN. Supica advises that there were 800 sets of the four deluxe knives produced, with a total of 3,752. Serial numbered sets are rare demanding $3,800, with non matching SN sets selling in the $2,400 range, singles at $500. These deluxe sets came in a FOUR knife factory case (which it seems you have.) Deemed rare and probably for special presentation.