SKM autos - new and legit or fake?

[QGofLake]

Hello All,

On bladehq, I see a lot of knives under the SKM brand purported to be made in Italy. Some of these are popping up on AAPK store. At the same time and besides some keychains, knifeshop does not have any SKM brand autos.

Does anyone know the story on these? Who is making these?

Feedback appreciated.

[Killgar]

I've never seen any SKM branded fakes on any of the "Big Three" Chinese sites (DHGate, Aliexpress, Wish), including now (I just checked). I don't shop those sites, I just keep an eye on the counterfeit market. I think the fact that I've never seen any SKM branded knives on those sites is a good sign, but of course I can't guarantee that someone, somewhere isn't producing fakes.

The Chinese tend to stick with fake "AKC" branding on Italian-style switchblades. For some reason they've got a real thing for "AKC", and Bill DeShivs.

SKM (Switchblade Knife Makers) is Armando Beltrame's brand, Frank Beltrames brother.

[Tom19176]

There has been a recent showing of SKM knives. I handled a few at the Mystic show. They were 9" in assorted handles. The dealer is an honest ones who is well supplied in all brands and China stuff. He commented the 9" ones were from Italy but the quality was not great. I was with two other serious collectors and we all agreed.

There is a seller on FB who had them in a few sizes. They were shown in the brown box six packs as they come from Italy and I have not seen that detail copied by the China guys yet....

[john]

I am pretty sure that Armando Beltramre retired. Can anyone confirm that?
So I really don’t know who’s making these knives; perhaps he sold the SKM name to someone else making the knives.

[QGofLake]

Thanks all for your feedback! Much appreciated.

[arthas]

Hello all!

I confirm that Armando Beltrame is retired. So, any new AB/SKM knife must be a fake, unless it's coming from some stock (which is very unlikey).

M.

[john]

Ciao Michele,
Grazie for confirming that AB is retired and that any new knives are fake.
Saluti,
Gianni

[sammy the blade]

Anything knife coming from Wish or DHGate is a fake unless it's a Ganzo or some of the cheapies they offer and you can spot those a mile away. The Gonzo's are actually pretty descent knives!

[Killgar]

If all new SKM knives being sold are fakes, then that means a number of vendors are selling fakes. I see that Perry Knifeworks is selling new SKM's, and I regard Perry as a reliable vendor. I assume that Perry knows the source of the knives he sells, and I find it hard to believe that he would lie to his customers and sell them fakes.

I don't know Armando Beltrame, or anyone in the Beltrame family, or anyone connected to any of them, but it seems to me that it could be possible that two things are true at the same time- that Armando Beltrame is retired, and that someone is making knives under the SKM name with Armando's permission. But I have no way of knowing one way or the other.

And I still can't find any SKM branded knives on any of the big Chinese sites. So if someone is making SKM fakes, I can only wonder where they are being made. If they were being made in China I would expect to see some being sold on the Chinese sites.

[Tom19176]

Killgar, I agree with you that Perry is 100% honest. At the Mystic show this year, he had some of the 8" open knives that we feel are the SKM models. The general view of these was that they were not great quality but real Italian knives. Nit sure who in Italy is making them??

[Killgar]

Killgar, I agree with you that Perry is 100% honest. At the Mystic show this year, he had some of the 8" open knives that we feel are the SKM models. The general view of these was that they were not great quality but real Italian knives. Nit sure who in Italy is making them??

Perry's is one of the few vendors of Italian switchblades I still trust. There used to be several, but my list is getting shorter.

[JulesVane]

But, there were never knives actually marked SKM, correct? All those different ways the Beltrame family marked knives all gets kind of crazy unless it's Frank B over ITALY, it could be Armando or Renzo or SKM. Who knows? Angelo was still selling the 2.75"- 4" keychains he said were SKM within the last year or so. I kind of doubt even Frank Beltrame actually makes knives with his stamp anymore.

[Tom19176]

Yes Chris, they are not marked SKM just Made in Italy. Perry list them as SKM??

https://www.perryknifeworks.com/item--s ... 87-polish/

[jim d,]

Kilgar, your comment about knives being made by someone else with Armando's permission would be a logical explanation, but if that were the case, Michele would certainly know.

Jim

[arthas]

Hello!

All knives Armando made were marked "AB Coltellerie", "AB" or some variation of that. That was true for the whole period we worked together.

In the last years before retirement I know there were some SKM-marked knives around, but I'm unable to tell any details about them.
Also, I seriously doubt someone is manufaturing SKM knives under a valid license from Armando, but also this I can't tell for sure.

M.