How do I identify vintage Gustav Emil Ern?

It's my understanding that the knives this company produced before the 1980's are exquisite, whereas the ones produced after that are junk. How do I tell the difference between the two from pictures posted online?

i didnt even know they made kitchen knives, i thought they were specialised on razors.

http://www.messerforum.net/showthre...-von-Gustav-Emil-Ern&highlight=germanenmesser

On oldies you will find the inscription "Germanenmesser" in old German handwriting. A bit curious marketing since the end of the twenties.

Benuser said:

http://www.messerforum.net/showthre...-von-Gustav-Emil-Ern&highlight=germanenmesser

On oldies you will find the inscription "Germanenmesser" in old German handwriting. A bit curious marketing since the end of the twenties.

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Are you sure? The knife pictured in that link is stainless. I thought all the stainless Gustav Emil Erns were produced after the bankruptcy, and all the vintage knives were carbon. It was my understanding that tricky part is that some of knives produced after the bankruptcy were also carbon, but of lower quality.

And take a look at this: [video=youtube;3kWZFMquWic]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kWZFMquWic[/video]. At 1:48 you can see a very low quality stainless GEE with Germanenmesser stamped on the blade.

I stand corrected, thanks! I didn't know they still used that ominous inscription.

Cucina said:

Are you sure? The knife pictured in that link is stainless. I thought all the stainless Gustav Emil Erns were produced after the bankruptcy, and all the vintage knives were carbon. It was my understanding that tricky part is that some of knives produced after the bankruptcy were also carbon, but of lower quality.

And take a look at this: At 1:48 you can see a very low quality stainless GEE with Germanenmesser stamped on the blade.

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No all. They did make some stainless before the bankruptcy. The originals are heavily bolstered in the classic Sabatier style. Right now I have an 8" chef style Gustav and a matching Thiers Issard sitting here in front of me. Visually they are virtually indistinguishable - not something you can say about the new Gustav stuff
Also, the name and trademark is stamped very cleanly into, not onto the steel.

Here they are side by side. Which is the Gustav and which is the Thiers Issard ?

Maybe not
Hew the heck do you upload a photo here ?

Sudsy said:

Maybe not
Hew the heck do you upload a photo here ?

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use photobucket, or something similar, and post the links that you get from them.

Sudsy said:

Here they are side by side. Which is the Gustav and which is the Thiers Issard ?

Click to expand...

Got it, thanks

The photo angle is off a bit, they're virtually identical in size.