All About Pocket Knives

..........I would guess that being a whittler had an effect on the high price!!!............... ................

Lets don't overlook the "I want what I want and I want it now" factor.

kootenay joe wrote:I see $676 for this knife as very high. It might be unused but is far from mint because of oxidation on all 3 blades. Maybe if i was a dedicated Camillus or whittler collector i might value it higher.
I have a 4 3/4" Camillus of the same age, ebony, bail, 2 blade 'straight jack' with tin opener secondary that is unused and as close to mint as possible for a 100+ yr old knife. Is this worth a similar amount ? Or is it the pearl or whittler aspect of OP knife what accounts for the high price ?
kj

Roland, pearl and whittler is definitely a factor but age, rarity and condition also. Then you need at least 2 buyers that really want it.
I am not the buyer, would not mind owning it but it was way out of my price range.

FRJ wrote:Lets don't overlook the "I want what I want and I want it now" factor.

I think that was the main force at work here.

There is also the ignorance factor. Several of those people did not know how to bid.

Quote: "Several of those people did not know how to bid".
It always surprises me to see 2 bidders upping each other long before auction ends. Sometimes one of bidders might have an ebay number in the thousands, i.e. heaps of ebay experience. I do not understand their lack of understanding of how to win at the best possible price.
kj

kootenay joe wrote:Quote: "Several of those people did not know how to bid".
It always surprises me to see 2 bidders upping each other long before auction ends. Sometimes one of bidders might have an ebay number in the thousands, i.e. heaps of ebay experience. I do not understand their lack of understanding of how to win at the best possible price.
kj

This is the Miller Bros horseman's knife I mentioned earlier, it went from 413.00 to 1197.00 in the last 3 seconds.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/OLD-BONE-HANDL ... _cvip=true

kootenay joe wrote:Quote: "Several of those people did not know how to bid".
It always surprises me to see 2 bidders upping each other long before auction ends. Sometimes one of bidders might have an ebay number in the thousands, i.e. heaps of ebay experience. I do not understand their lack of understanding of how to win at the best possible price.
kj

Roland I do not understand either. I guess they never heard of sniping.

John that is a crazy about the horsemans knife. Sometimes it's shocking how much somebody will pay for a certain knife.

kootenay joe wrote:Quote: "Several of those people did not know how to bid".
It always surprises me to see 2 bidders upping each other long before auction ends.
kj

An eBay seller’s dream.

Ken

Some folks around here didn't care to much for Mr. Blister and his " ROOSKIE MANUAL" but I always thought one of his so called rookies was the only way to go if you really wanted to win an auction. That was the over and under double barrel rooskie with both barrels chambered for .475 nitro Express. Don't light the fuse till you see the whites of their eyes.

O.K., it seems the high price for the pearl whittler is based on 3 things: desirable pattern, excellent condition, and 2 bidders trying to top each other well before auction's close.
For comparison here is a Camillus English Jack ? (not sure of correct name) that was dated as just pre WW I by BRL and others on BF years ago.
4 3/4", so very well made, see spine/spring picture, and in top condition. What you see at end of master blade is shadows, there is no staining. Has half stops & 'killer' snaps.
What value would you assign to it ? I know it's apple's & oranges, or whittlers & jacks, but i am hoping to get some idea of how much of the $676 whittler is from the competing bidders.
kj

Roland I think your knife is outstanding but might suffer in value simply because of the pattern and handle material. The whittler is a very popular pattern and a specialty type jack might not appeal to as many folks.
I do believe that the prices of vintage Camillus knives is starting to catch up a bit with the other brands.
There was a Ebony Gunstock jack tha recently sold and almost broke the $400 mark but it was not nearly as nice as yours.

Thanks Greg. Good point: if ebay Camillus whittler had ebony handles the value would be lower. I see handle materials as ranking: stag, pearl, jigged bone, and then hardwood.
What about patterns that were only made with ebony ? Are these doomed to forever be lower value knives ? Probably.
I don't think there is a jigged bone version of my knife.
kj

I personally view the general devaluation of Ebony simply because it is a wood to be a plus for my collection because I love it as a knife handle and therefore can afford more knives made with it, but there is just something special about a large knife with pearl handles. I offer my 8151L for your viewing pleasure.

......I remember asking my granddad(died in 1952) why he didn't have any pearl-handled knives and he said...... "son, pearl's are supposed to be on a woman's necklace or the bottom of the ocean, not on a man's knife"!!............. ...............

Carrmillus, I bet I would have liked your Grandpa.

JohnR wrote:

kootenay joe wrote:Quote: "Several of those people did not know how to bid".
It always surprises me to see 2 bidders upping each other long before auction ends. Sometimes one of bidders might have an ebay number in the thousands, i.e. heaps of ebay experience. I do not understand their lack of understanding of how to win at the best possible price.
kj

This is the Miller Bros horseman's knife I mentioned earlier, it went from 413.00 to 1197.00 in the last 3 seconds.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/OLD-BONE-HANDL ... _cvip=true

.................... ...................

carrmillus wrote:......I remember asking my granddad(died in 1952) why he didn't have any pearl-handled knives and he said...... "son, pearl's are supposed to be on a woman's necklace or the bottom of the ocean, not on a man's knife"!!............. ...............

Tommy, if I were not a knife collecting weirdo I don't think I'd have any pearl knives. I like what your grandpa said.

KnifeSlinger#81 wrote:

carrmillus wrote:......I remember asking my granddad(died in 1952) why he didn't have any pearl-handled knives and he said...... "son, pearl's are supposed to be on a woman's necklace or the bottom of the ocean, not on a man's knife"!!............. ...............

Tommy, if I were not a knife collecting weirdo I don't think I'd have any pearl knives. I like what your grandpa said.

.......he died in 1952, I was 15, and he is responsible for me being a Camillus nut!!........he told me if after he was gone, if he saw me carrying anything but a Camillus, he'd kick the dirt off his grave and come after me!!......... .......

carrmillus wrote:.......he died in 1952, I was 15, and he is responsible for me being a Camillus nut!!........he told me if after he was gone, if he saw me carrying anything but a Camillus, he'd kick the dirt off his grave and come after me!!......... .......

Can't argue with that!

While I would agree that the sight of a woman wearing Pearl's is quite intoxicating I don't believe we should leave them lying on the bottom of the ocean.

As long as I'm not the one buying their pearls...I've got knives to buy instead.

KnifeSlinger#81 wrote:As long as I'm not the one buying their pearls...I've got knives to buy instead.

Pearls for women is money gone. Pearls on a knife is an investment,

Pearl knife handles do present a potential problem: they crack easily and even one small pin crack drives the value down to almost zero. Nobody (except me) will buy a pearl handle knife if there is a crack in the pearl. I found this out after years of buying exquisite vintage pearl knives with a crack in the pearl. Sometimes not easy to see the crack without a loupe but potential buyers still decline them.
kj

I know this isn't about knives or other sharp objects and I have nothing against pearl handles, but......
General George S. Patton's response when asked about the "pearl" grips on his sidearms.
“Son, only a pimp in a Louisiana whore-house carries pearl-handled revolvers. These are ivory.”