New Kramer Auction

For a 10" Meiji Dami Chef’s knife, I don't like this dami pattern personally and the handle seems somewhat blah

and it is already up to 20k!
:wink:

I thought the blade on the TV show was forged with meteorite? This doesn't mention meteorite as an ingredient.

gic said:

For a 10" Meiji Dami Chef’s knife, I don't like this dami pattern personally and the handle seems somewhat blah

and it is already up to 20k!
:wink:

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But it was seen on TV so is even famous(er).

For that price it better be forged from Kryptonite by Zeus himself.

Yes, I received the email from Kramer too, if this is the TV one referencing Bourdain. The pattern (TV shaped squares) is unappealing. I do like the business model of selling these knives though, as it publicly tests desirability and the price ceiling. People do get carried away in auctions!

Does anyone know how much the knife went for?

131 bids, knife went for 34,700 USD according to a similar thread on another knife board.

Guess the 'Kramer bubble' is still in inflating mode If he made that knife for a lottery winner he would have sold it for what, $7,500 or $8k? And the owner would have been able to turn around and sell it the next day for a 300% profit. Glad Kramer decided to do these auctions periodically, as it allows him to get some of that windfall. And I think it says something that he does not auction many of his knives -- he would make a lot more $ if he did.

The last 10" Damascus Meiji from the readymade sale was listed around $6k IIRC and someone tried to flip it for $11.5k here on the forum by sending members a PM.

I'm kind of offended this knuckle head didn't pm me with that offer. Jeez! I thought my fanboyism for Bob was pretty apparent around here.
Not like I could've come even remotely close to afford that price tag, but I can't help but feel a little left out. ..

I'm not sure how I ended up being one of the "lucky ones" who got an offer to purchase. I think Bob's guarantee is only good for the original owner too. I'd never pay almost 2x for a knife regardless of who made it

I'm pretty sure Bob would stand by his work, regardless of who owns it. I say, "Way to go, Bob! 34 thou for a knife is unreal, but it's obviously the market value, at the moment.

Bob is a really cool and down to Earth guy, and the fact that he sells at 30% of the market value, for those who win the lottery is pretty awesome.

Marc, I hear ya. I feel a tad left out too....

I'd believe that, I find rules are written like that seem to have some flexibility and are usually stated as such to avoid complete abuse of the honour system. I've never met him but he seems interesting, I like his story too. I would pay the lottery and/or readymade prices if I was selected but would stop there, not getting into a bidding war. Even still I'd probably have to sell some stuff to buy a $6k knife.

Like my truck.

Well there you go, Dardeau is willing to sell his truck to help you get the funds! I love the people on this forum!

It's like the NPR vehicle donation, except I don't get a donor pack or public radio out of it!

I would sell his truck for a Kramer.

Disclaimer: not actually selling my truck. I need it. If I didn't I would put it toward someone's Kramer fund.

Or maybe an entire Shig shipment from Maxim to be given away. Maybe when that powerball hits!

i'm super super curious who these ppl dropping 35k for a single knife are. are they actual knife fanatics? do they do their own sharpening? are these knives gifts for their famous chef friends? Does anyone know any of these people?

Likely Wall Street types. Will probably use it once and get scared of it becuase "It's too sharp!" Will then direct their kitchen staff go back to using the 180 Wusthoff chef knives.

In all honesty it would be great if someone used it regularly, but then again at that price would you bang on it and lose value or keep it pristine and hope to sell it for $100k when Mr. Kramer is longer here on earth with us? For $7-8k I would use it a couple times per week, but for $35k I'm not so sure.

tjangula said:

The last 10" Damascus Meiji from the readymade sale was listed around $6k IIRC and someone tried to flip it for $11.5k here on the forum by sending members a PM.

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Yeah, he's been banned.

I wonder if Kramer can put something into his ready mades term of sale saying that you agree not to sell the knife for say a year?

That would probably prevent an ebay listing, a spam attack like what happened to us even if it would not prevent a truly private sale...

Having somebody flip it is probably not what he wants

Why should he (or we) care about flipping? I would have thought that he is incentivised to see a high market price sustained for his knives and a secondary market can assist that. He has complete control over supply volume. People who already own them have the same motivation as they may seek value preservation.

I would have thought that a sale prevention clause would be unenforceable anyway. His only recourse is to refuse to sell that person another knife (this is the approach that Ferrari take to reduce flipping of their limited edition models). Since that is unlikely anyway due to limited supply and a long waiting list, there is a complete absence of breach remedy.

chipzaroy said:

i'm super super curious who these ppl dropping 35k for a single knife are. are they actual knife fanatics? do they do their own sharpening? are these knives gifts for their famous chef friends? Does anyone know any of these people?

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I have a theory on that... they are either (as it has already been said by someone else) thinking about it as some kind of investment, hoping that the bubble won't burst and prices will roar if Mr. Kramer ever meets his maker. Or we may be talking about the kind of person with a very high income/salary, who needs something rare and fancy as a kitchen decoration to impress his equally well paid colleagues or business-partner, when he invites them for a dinner... a dinner that's either prepared by his wife, who used a small inexpensive Santoku instead of the kramer (because it's too sharp and big), or most likely by a professional chef he hired for that occasion.

I mean having a real Kramer in your house doesn't harm your reputation, like being caught red-handed shooting the wrong lion somewhere down in Africa... and a kramer won't start to smell funny, like a badly done stuffed lions head. :laugh:

Some people who follow the investment model do not buy the piece to impress others. In many instances, 'others' are probably not even aware of the purchase. if you truly want to put it away and sell for a lot more $ down the road, you will likly tuck it safely away and only go admire it yourself every now and then. it's more of the wannabees who use it as 'flash'

I know a chef in NYC (French even) that works those private one-percenter boardrooms and dinner parties. I'll ask him the next time I see him if anyone has ever handed him a Kramer to use. Kramer knows this individual too.

The 10" gyuto that he sold during his August ready made sale was actually the first meteorite blade he's done. If you watch one of the preview trailers (there are two) for his raw craft episode with anthony bourdain he says it. Its obviously a gyuto that he is wet sanding but if you look at the distinct markings left on the blade from quenching you can clearly see that it's the same knife. The ready made sale happened before the show aired but if you look at the unique markings you can see its the same knife. Here is the link [video=youtube_share;qUpoJ1_Cc78]http://youtu.be/qUpoJ1_Cc78[/video]

That's some serious investigative journalism right there.

This just seems like massive hype to me.