Help identify this knife please

[tjcon1665]

I purchased this knife in a collection several months ago with a few other actual switchblades and this is the only knife that I cannot identify. I have been told that it is a Mauro Mario but I cannot find any information regarding it. I know the release has been bent up, it is a beautiful knife, I would like to know more about it. Thank you for your help!!

I also have this mini imperial that I know nothing about. Are either of these knives have any value to them?

[BestVintageKnives]

The clip blade imitation mother of pearl 11” stiletto or probably mid-1970s. Could have been made by half a dozen makers in Maniago , Italy.

Probably made by Inter, or one of the Patrizio families, or the Centazzo family, etc

[tjcon1665]

Thank you, I greatly appreciate the information. That’s definitely more information than I could remotely find lol. I have scoured the Internet and I couldn’t find any information at all.

[Bartlow]

There isn't really enough information marked on the knife to say for sure who assembled it or or who made some or all of the parts. Many of these include parts from different shops in the Maniago area, and while final assembly might have been by one place, it is quite possible the blade was made by one, the bolsters by another. People would love to attribute a knife to a shop with a name known in the USA, but that would really be a guess. Generally speaking this design was made for many years, it is a final evolution of making a switchblade style knife that could be imported into the USA after the switchblade law passed. The design, with the lever release at the base of the spine works really well and hundred of thousands were imported. It appears the spine lever for yours is bent or broken which is too bad. It probably still works OK it's just ugly. Earlier ideas for making a manual stiletto that looks like a switchblade may be collectible and rarer, but I don't think they work as well as this design in terms of making a usable knife.

[BestVintageKnives]

There isn't really enough information marked on the knife to say for sure who assembled it or or who made some or all of the parts. Many of these include parts from different shops in the Maniago area, and while final assembly might have been by one place, it is quite possible the blade was made by one, the bolsters by another. People would love to attribute a knife to a shop with a name known in the USA, but that would really be a guess. Generally speaking this design was made for many years, it is a final evolution of making a switchblade style knife that could be imported into the USA after the switchblade law passed. The design, with the lever release at the base of the spine works really well and hundred of thousands were imported. It appears the spine lever for yours is bent or broken which is too bad. It probably still works OK it's just ugly. Earlier ideas for making a manual stiletto that looks like a switchblade may be collectible and rarer, but I don't think they work as well as this design in terms of making a usable knife.

Good points. All fair and valid.

One thing that’s been said all these years (mostly by Americans) is that Maniago was this cottage industry where one guy made blades, one guy made bolsters. While that made be true in more recent times, the farther we go back. The most individualized the builders were.

Companies like Inter and Venier and various Rosas and Centazzos they usually made all the parts for their own knives. If a shop designed a knife or specialized in a certain size or style they usually made every part for themselves. They were designers and manufacturers and distributors.

Sadly these days some can’t even heat treat their own steel. They farm it out.