No. 200 - No. 204 serie
The series with numbers 200 – 204 was particularly well known for the soldier's knife, starting with the 1890 model and ending with the 08 model in 1950. The 100 mm soldier's knife, made of carbon steel, shaped the Swiss army for over 50 years. It is almost a little forgotten that there was a complete series in this size and shape with a total of about 10 different models. These were all based on the basic construction of the model 08 soldier's knife. They were all very solid and were referred to as mechanic's knives. In addition to a large cutting blade, there were models with tools such as a triangular awl, wide and narrow screwdrivers and blades for stripping cables.
This series came into conflict with Victorinox 's numbering system. The number 205 was already assigned to an army knife, leaving only 6 integers between the number 200 and the number 205. However, Victorinox developed more models than 5, which is why there were numbers like 202 ½ or 200 R.
Unlike the other major manufacturer of Swiss Army Knives, Wenger Delémont, Victorinox was very good at making a whole series of pocket knives from a fixed size and a basic model. The specifications for the Model 08 came from the Swiss Army, based on the basic Model 1890, the prototypes of which were once manufactured in Solingen, Germany. Since scales, jaws, liners, blades and various tools were made for the soldier's knife anyway, it was a little extra effort to combine the various tools differently for other pocket knife models, depending on the need and purpose. For example, a notch was milled into the massive screwdriver so that cables could be stripped. This meant only 1 additional operation compared to the standard screwdriver.
When a new model of soldier's knife came out in 1951, this series was gradually reduced model by model. Most of the models were soon no longer in production and the remainders were available for as long as we could. Overall, the pocket knives in this series were very heavy. The carbon steel versions in particular required a lot of care and attention. For a long time, these mechanics' knives were ordered by the companies SBB and BKW for their workers and a corresponding engraving was attached to the handle.