This is the list of the knives that was stolen last month from my home.

Well after searching through all of my stuff for the insurance claim that my roommate put in for the items stolen from the house. I compiled a list of the more important and valuable pieces that were stolen. I am not listing a lot of the vintage knives as many of those were in unusable condition waiting for my refurbishment projects. I am however listing many of the knives that I actually collect. I was building up a very nice and very pristine set of La Trompette Sabatiers and a pristine set of Henckels Grand prize model 102's. I also lost a few Shigs, Watanabes and my first Carter That I bought off a kid a few months ago because it was too much knife for him. Never even used it. Had it for a week at most. If you guys suddenly see someone from New york or Jersey selling Knives they never had before let me know. I had a lot of knives and I mean a lot. I have been collecting for over 25 years and I have had literally thousand of knives pass through my hands. these were special. Well here goes. The insurance company wanted the dates the knives were purchased and the reciepts. Who keeps receipts. They are paying a a total of $250 dollars total for the knives . Says that is the maximum they will pay. Ass@#$%s


• 12 inch blade Antique carbon steel La Trompette 1878 chef knife pristine 1996-----------------------
• 14 inch blade Antique carbon steel La Trompette 1878 chef knife pristine 1998
• 2-10 inch blade Antique carbon steel La Trompette 1878 chef knife pristine 2000 Medaille
• 1-9 inch blade Antique carbon steel La Trompette 1878 chef knife pristine 2000 D’or
• 1-6 inch blade Antique carbon steel La Trompette 1878 chef knife pristine 2000
• 2-4inch blade Antique carbon steel La Trompette 1878 chef knife pristine 1998
• 2-2.5 inch Antique carbon La Trompette 1878 paring knife pristine 1998
• 1-12inch Antique carbon La Trompette 1878 Trenchelard pristine 1992
• 1-10inch Antique carbon La Trompette 1878 slicer pristine 1994
• 1-7inch Antique carbon La Trompette 1878 utility pristine 1996------------------------
• Shigefusa Kitaeji Gyuto 270mm(10.63 in blade) 2008
• Shigefusa Kitaeji Miroshi Deba 240mm(9.5 in blade) 2008
• Shigefusa Kitaeji Wa Petty 150mm(6 in blade) 2010
• 2-10in blade antique carbon steel Henckels chef knife model 102-10 pristine 2000 -----------------------
• 1-14in blade antique carbon Henckels slicer knife model 102-14 pristine 2000
• 1-12in blade antique carbon Henckels slicer knife model 102-12 pristine 2000 Grand Prize
• 1-12in blade antique carbon steel Henckels chef knife model 102-12 pristine 2000 Paris 1900
• 1-14in blade antique carbon steel Henckels chef knife model 102-14 pristine 2000 St. Louis
• 1-8in blade antique carbon Henckels chef knife model 102-8 pristine 2000 1904
• 1-6in blade antique carbon Henckels utility knife model 102-6 pristine 2000
• 2-4in blade antique carbon Henckels paring knife model 102-4 pristine 2000-----------------------
• 6pc-10 in blade Forgecraft Hicarbon chef knife vintage 1950’s 1998
• Murray Carter 8.1 sun(9.66 in blade) High Grade Gyuto ebony/ water buffalo horn handle
Sku#8.1HGGW245X192E/WB 2011
• Watanabe Sujuhiki Kintaro-Ame 300mm(11.81 in blade) 2008
• Watanabe Gyuto Honyaki 240mm(9.5 in blade) 2008
• Watanabe petty Kintaro-Ame 150mm(6 in blade) paring knife 2011
• Jaw Leather Knife roll/chef kit 2011

Wow. 250? That's a fraction of one knife.

Hey, ay least you got to use all those bad boys.

never used the Shigs, Watanabes or the Carter Didn't want to use those until I learned to sharpen properly and then when I did I never got around to it and in the case of the Carter, I didn't have it long enough.lol

sachem allison said:

Ass@#$%s

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how generous of them...


How many of the more expensive ones have you purchased straight from a dealer/maker? If so the dealer/maker should have a reciept of your purchase in their books.

The $250 they offered is just a pure insult...

all of the customs and high ends I traded or bought from other cooks or chefs who didn't know or couldn't handle what they had. no receipts unfortunately

That really sucks. If I see or hear anything I'll be sure to let you know asap.

That's a big list! Bummer...

Very depressing. Sorry for your loss.

Depressing indeed.

How were they stored? It's hard to imagine how the thief (or thieves) were able to carry such a haul without being noticed.

Sorry Son. Terrible.

the ****** thing is they probably have no idea what they'd stolen...

Wow that is a long list of nice knives. Very upsetting.

sorry for all that loss ill keep a eye out .

What sucks is that I will never be able to build up that particular collection again. Those Antique knives were all in like new untouched condition. I purchased those Henckels from a lady whose Grandfather actually worked at the World's fair as a hawker for Henckel. When they went back to Germany they didn't go straight back they went on to France and left some of their luggage to be sent ahead to Germany. In all of the confusion of the Worlds fair a few crates of things were "accidentally" left behind and her grandfather ended up with some. She said he had a few more pieces, but they were used by the ladies of the family and beat up over the years. It's her story and I have no reason not to believe her. lots of things accidentally fall off of trucks in those days. The La Trompettes I searched in antique shops and flea markets and Sophie sent me a few over the years. That collection was much more personal than any other. Yes, TK it is a big list Out of over fifty knives they left me four, Minus the Dragon slayer set. I do not currently have the funds to rebuild or the energy and time for that matter. I'm just too tired with every thing else going on to even want to start again. You know the funny thing is I did use almost everyone of the vintage at one point and still kept them pristine. If you look at even my everyday users you will not find a single sharpening scratch on the faces of the blades made by me. I pride myself on being able to sharpen without scratching the faces and that is because of these knives. I never wanted to damage them. These were my looking at knives.lol not my beaters. not drawer queens either.

Johnny.B.Good said:

Depressing indeed.

How were they stored? It's hard to imagine how the thief (or thieves) were able to carry such a haul without being noticed.

Sorry Son. Terrible.

Click to expand...

I actually had them sitting in a couple of duffle bags on the kitchen table, I was getting ready to take pictures of them 1. to show you guys 2. for oddly enough insurance purposes. I was just looking into renters insurance and was waiting to get paid in a few days, so that I could buy a policy. Missed by two days. I had a feeling for about a week that I should get renters insurance, I always had it before, just never got around to it this time. Hindsight is 20/20

I am really sorry sachem allison. Similar thing happened to a friend of mine, but with an old(and very expensive) Chinese porcelain collection. According to the police the bandits knew very well about its value, as nothing else being stolen. Most probably they were specifically after your knives.

I hate a thief.

Damn... maybe you can list the knives as something other than a "knife" for example I lost a parer, slicer, gyuto, deba, petty etc...??? long shot but hey what the heck. I hope whoever stole your knives stabs himself with one.

With that many of one item being stolen, you can be sure the thieves had an idea of what they had or what they were after. I feel your loss. We have had two break-ins here at our house over the years and it left us feeling violated and mad as he!!.

Sadly, there is a moral to this story. For all of you collectors out there in KKF forumland who have small to large collections, take photos of what you have with descriptions and have a rider attached to your insurance policy for that collection. Update as necessary. I have seen some of these knives and they are far to costly not to protect.

As an example, each January I take photos of the current shop and photos of any new additions to my tools. If I have another loss, at least I can convince the a$$ho*&s at the insurance carrier what I really had and not what they thought I had. After a theft at a mini storage I rented, I was going to be paid for a lesser quality tool until I produced a photo of what I had and turned the tables on an idiot adjuster who was trying the cheap out on the claim. Store the photos on a thumb drive or other digital media in a safe place.

This sucks in so many ways. I really hope that the police find some of the stuff and that you change insurance company after you are done with this. $250 is just sad.

I am just in the process of taking pictures of all our valuables since containers falls off ships and thats where my entire home will be for the next couple of weeks. This reminds me to be more thorough.

Dang, that is just terrible news.
I feel your pain here.
I sincerely hope they show up again somehow, and that you'll be reunited with them.

Hopefully this story will serve as a warning to all who haven't checked their insurance policy for what is covered, and what is not.

I'm a collector of sorts myself and have had to make arrangements for a special insurance policy for my razors, stones, watches and whatnot.
The standard home insurance I had was laughable at best.
I was told that they would cover a maximum of 3 razors, as that really is all anyone could claim a need for.
That would have left some 200+ razors uninsured
I've also documented every single item, with photo's and receipts.
I keep those in a safety deposit box at my local bank office.

If my stuff gets stolen, someone is gonna have to pay me handsomely for my troubles

Son:

Just a thought. Did you happen to purchase any knives through PayPal? If so, would PayPal receipts help you document your loss?

Also, declarations from people that sold you the knives may also be used to document the loss. Most property/homeowners insurers require what is generally called a "sworn proof of loss." Insurers are also generally required to consider all document submitted to them. Ask your insurer for the sworn proof of loss form if they haven't provided one to you already.

If you can get declarations from each of the people you bought the knives from, assuming you have enough coverage, you may be able to get more money for your loss.

That is not a small list of knives, and some real special pieces.
It's a shame people has to resort to stealing other peoples beloved stuff.

That's an infuriatingly long list. Moreso for you obviously. B@s+@rds...

Thank you,guys, but the claim is through my roommate who owns the house. They won't insure any renters property, so she claimed that she was a private caterer and that these were the tools of her trade, that was the mistake, they would only cover up to $250 for any business related items lost in the home. she had some kind of rider on her policy. If she had said that these were regular random items stolen from here home it would have been covered, granted at way less than what I paid over the years.
thanks for your thoughts, son

Theft sucks. Not only do you suffer the lost of personal items, you're also left with a personal feeling of being violated. I experienced a little theft one time and I was surprised by the feeling I was left with. I can not imagine what it's like to loose a collection such as yours.

Let this be a wake-up call to everyone. Buy a personal articles insurance policy and get your knife collection covered. While you're at it, get those diamond rings, expensive watches or art collection covered too. This insurance is cheap and is tailored to cover items your homeowner's policy either doesn't cover or has limits on. Don't be fooled into thinking your renter's or homeowner's insurance will fully cover your losses.

Son, sorry for that.

With that many knives the crook(s) probably won't fence them off in oneseys and twoseys.

Over the next few weeks, I'd keep a look out for local Craiglist adds, pawnshops, restaurant supply houses, or any knife shops in the vicinity.

Heck, if you have the time I would visit those places now and give them a heads up on the dirtbags trying to unload your stuff.

Continued best wishes.

Im really sorry to hear that. My house was broken into in january. Luckily they left my knives alone.

I was thinking the same thing 99. Sage advice.

And it's hard looking at this list and hearing the story behind your collection. It really is. That such knives landed in your possession: the perfect intersection of appreciation and care is amazing, and to think now that some d-bag out there ruined it and they are likely unappreciated is hard to swallow.

With that said, when looked through what was taken and I got to the end about the 'payout' from the insurance company I said to myself: "That's a bummer." Now I can't get out of my head the Big Lebowski.

k.

I'll keep an eye out on ebay and forums. Hope they catch that thief. I find it strange that they even took the WIP-destined ones.

I pity the thief if I get home with them here,....2 shots to the head.