BRAND:   Frontier

MAKER:   Imperial

PATTERN:   P-II

LENGTH (Closed):   4”

FRAME:   Frame, bolsters & liners are all one piece of stainless steel.

HANDLES: Handles have a Birch wood inlay stainless steel frame.

BLADES: Single drop point blade made of Diamondbrite™ stainless steel

TANG STAMPS:   FRONTIER/U.S.A.             Rear Stamp: P-II/IMPERIAL/STAINLESS

CONDITION:   Excellent to Near Mint

DAMAGE:   None noted

BLADE WEAR:   Blade appears full, has been lightly used and may have been sharpened.

SNAP:   Good

MADE IN:   U.S.A.

ADDITIONAL INFO:      This is an interesting series of knives produced circa 1982. In one of their advertising flyers Imperial shows a picture of a very early computer wear the keyboard and monitor all one piece and beneath the picture of this old clunky computer are the following words: “Slim-silhouette, compact “‘knives of the future.’” This was six years before the Motorola bag phone and 20+ years before the smartphone. This was Imperial’s attempt to play to the technology industry, which in many ways was still in its infancy.

There were six knives in this series, which was referred to as the Diamondbrite™ series; the models P-I, P-II, & P-IV were single bladed lockbacks and were 3, 4 & 5 inches respectively. The P-III was a 3-inch, three-blade pattern with a drop point master blade, and a sheepfoot and pin secondary blades. The P-VI was a 3-inch, two-blade pattern with a drop point master blade and a pen blade at opposite ends.

Although the Diamondbrite™ series may not be as eye-catching today as it was in 1982 I think the spotless look of the brushed stainless steel frame and the lighter colored Birchwood inlay makes for a clean, sleek look to the knives, especially the single bladed ones.

Ironically the Diamondbrite™ series by Imperial is very similar in the looks, size, blade shape and configuration as the Easy Rider series that Kershaw made and introduced circa 1976. The difference between the Imperial Frontier Diamondbrite™ and Kershaw’s Easy Rider series is that the Diamondbrite™ featured a lighter colored wood inlay, Birchwood in the Imperials and Rosewood in the Kershaws, and the finish on the Diamondbrite knives was considerably lighter in color than the similar finish on the Kershaws. The Diamondbrite series were lighter and brighter than the Easy Rider series of Kershaw. When I see two items so similar in design and function; one that was incredibly successful, (the Easy Rider series appeared in ads and catalogs from 1976 to 1985), and the Imperial Diamondbrite series were only produced in 1982. This always makes me wonder why the product was so successful one company and not for the other? I guess is just another cutlery history mystery!

Don’t pass up this chance to own your own piece of Imperial Cutlery history!

*By Purchasing, The Buyer Confirms It Is Legal For Them Purchase And Own This Knife.

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Item # 32765