My Beltrame Family Collection

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Luke_of_Mass
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My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by Luke_of_Mass »

Greetings, these are my first photos here at talkblade :oops:

I haven't seen many albums/collections consisting of the three Beltrames in the stiletto business as we know it, so I figured I'd take the opportunity to snap a few pics of these as I moved them from one storage to the next.

For anybody who is not clear how exactly these three bladesmiths are related to eachother, you can read about them at this website, researched and compiled by an avid Russian stiletto collector/enthusiast.

The first four are by Frank Beltrame, possibly the most well-known of all of them:

Image

These are some of the first genuine Italian stilettos I ever got. All are stamped "Frank B Italy" albeit very lightly... I think this is where my fondness for pearlex scales started, although, I couldn't resist spending the few extra dollars to score a perfect black bayonet-blade version, just like the movies :wink: (for some reason black acrylic is hard to find? perhaps 'typical' is boring in the stiletto world :mrgreen:)

These next three were produced by Armando Beltrame, who supposedly has his office in the same building as Frank:

Image

These fire hard, and lock up rock solid, much like Frank's. The Orange and Green are similar to the Frank Beltrame pearlex scales, but the blue one has a type of shimmery effect to it, like the rippling effect wind has as it blows over a lake; my poor camera had a hard time picking it up, though. These are stamped "AB Italy", etched in a much more pronounced fashion than the Frank B. knives, but perhaps what intrigued me most was that they had the "M-inside-the-Q" symbol top right of the main stamp - this is the same as many Latamas these days - I hear it denotes a certification of quality? Or something along those lines - I'm sure somebody here knows the story behind it, do let me know just what it's about!

Lastly, here are my two stilettos made by Renzo Beltrame:

Image

The scales on these are by far the most beautiful of the Beltrame Pearlexes that I've got. I love the swirling effect in them. Physically, the scales are more rounded than the others, giving the illusion that the knife is somehow smaller, although they are all 9-inch models. Each is stamped "Stiletto Italy" - a little vague, leading some people I've seen on youtube to refer to these as "no-name stilettos" Image. From what I can tell, Renzo Beltrame seems to be the least-known of this legendary "stiletto family" and I would love to know more about him, so if anybody has more info on this guy please feel free to share!

Image

Thought I'd share one more close-up of the Renzo pearlex scales... really cool to look at!

...Did I mention I like pearlex? :P

I've got some more stuff, mostly wood and some horn. I'll try and get around to digging them up to get some photos Image
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whippersnapper
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by whippersnapper »

Great variety of swirls and colors! Thanks for sharing the pics!
sammy the blade
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by sammy the blade »

Nice collection you have, always nice to keep it in the family! Unless it's date night!
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METALGOD
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by METALGOD »

Hi i have known Renzo for around 20 years what do you want to know ?
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ILikeStilettos
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by ILikeStilettos »

METALGOD wrote:Hi i have known Renzo for around 20 years what do you want to know ?
Is he related to Francisco, Armando and Paulo or not?
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STAGNUT
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by STAGNUT »

Nice collection thank you for the pics !
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Luke_of_Mass
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by Luke_of_Mass »

METALGOD wrote:Hi i have known Renzo for around 20 years what do you want to know ?
Is he still in business? I read somewhere that his company ran from 1970-1990, but pictures of him in a workshop that supposedly belongs to him have surfaced as recently as 10 years ago...

Does he have some type of store (online?) you can buy pieces from? and (semi-related) how could he be reached - does he make custom pieces to order?

Other than the article linked in my OP, all that can be seen about this guy is a small trickle of his pieces popping up on sharperdeals and one or two knife reviews on youtube
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by METALGOD »

ILikeStilettos wrote:
METALGOD wrote:Hi i have known Renzo for around 20 years what do you want to know ?
Is he related to Francisco, Armando and Paulo or not?
yes Renzo Beltrame is related to Frank and Armando .
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by METALGOD »

Luke_of_Mass wrote:
METALGOD wrote:Hi i have known Renzo for around 20 years what do you want to know ?
Is he still in business? I read somewhere that his company ran from 1970-1990, but pictures of him in a workshop that supposedly belongs to him have surfaced as recently as 10 years ago...

Does he have some type of store (online?) you can buy pieces from? and (semi-related) how could he be reached - does he make custom pieces to order?

Other than the article linked in my OP, all that can be seen about this guy is a small trickle of his pieces popping up on sharperdeals and one or two knife reviews on youtube

yes Renzo and family are still making knives .

no online store, he only sells to dealers who buy large quanity . he does make custom pieces but only in quanity.

i have a bunch of special made brazilian horn stiletto knives from Renzo in 7",8",9",11" and 13" posted at (bladebid.com ) auction, all these knives i have are not typically made with brazilian horn and are special order .

hey hope this helps :)
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Viking45
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by Viking45 »

Nice selection Luke, like the blue and green real well.

I have several (half dozen or more) of Renzo's knives and either I'm lucky or he is more quality conscience than the others....I believe it's the latter.
All my Renzo's function perfectly, the locks are always just right, not too loose and not a nail breaker and the finish is always well done with attention to detail, pins,scales etc.
I'll take a Renzo as fast as I would a Frank maybe even faster. Salute' to Renzo.
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by sammy the blade »

I had one that was assembled by frank I won on SD auction from Rick and that knife was perfect. The straightest stiletto I ever owned that wasn't customized. So it can be done!
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by ILikeStilettos »

OK, the original post contains a most interesting link tracing the lineage and dates of the family and businesses, but as such doesn't tell the whole story. Maniago is a small town, and while it may be the cutlery capital of Italy - it's almost like a cottage industry and there are ties of marriage and long time friendship. I'm going to limit myself here to speak only from Frank and Renzo's generation forward. Frank, Armando and Paulo are brothers. Renzo is a first cousin. Paulo is not in the knife business, but his wife Renza is affiliated with Armando, and their son, Michelle, is this site's admin, Arthas.

Frank's daugher, Sara, is his business face and handles communication.

What the article did not say is that although Frank and Armando each have a half of the same building, they haven't spoken to each other in decades. Renzo has the only forge and probably makes all of the Beltrame blades. Frank has the "Frank B" line, but also makes limited editions, specials for Bernie, and 11" Walt's Latamas. Armando has the low end SKM and the high end AB lines. I have never heard of a knife marked with Renzo's brand, but Siletto Italy is usually attributed to him.

The firm AGA Campolin is also in town, and it's not clear what all the ties are, but trust that there are some. Just as in the '50's where blades got marked Latama, Corricama, Rosco, Edwin J, Mauro Mario, etc. - these came from one of the players in Maniago with some importer influence markings. That persists today with Walt Harrucha and Bernie Folgore, and probably others.

AGA comes from Angelo Gianni Angelo, and the current company head is the Angelo we know, approximately 40 years old. Their low end line is AKC (A Knife Company) and their best knives are made by Renzo Pascutto (age 76, I believe). If you say Renzo, it could be Beltrame or Pascutto. The final player, is Lucio Dibon (either no relation to Oreste, or his son). Lucio ties to everyone, first because he runs the switchblade museum in Maniago, and secondly because he is THE seller of scale material ... where do you think PLP and Walt get theirs?

So if you were to mention an Italian swingguard, in 9" that's AKC, an 11", Frank, and 13", Campolin/Pascutto. I own an 18" marked Renzo Pascutto. There are smaller and older ones marked "b rostfrei". See how confusing it gets?

13" Walt's are made by Renzo Pascutto.

I don't think I have revealed any family secrets but I probably have made some errors which others will correct. Your collection is great, but not all Beltrame's start with a B, so getting a complete set is very tricky.
Dave Sause
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Luke_of_Mass
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by Luke_of_Mass »

sammy the blade wrote:I had one that was assembled by frank I won on SD auction from Rick and that knife was perfect. The straightest stiletto I ever owned that wasn't customized. So it can be done!
I've never even had a customized Frank B knife, but all the ones I've had were completely perfect in every way... perfectly straight, no blade play, safety worked very well and did not slide too easily, blade sat perfectly centered when folded into the handle, all springs fired hard when blade was deployed. Granted I never played with them an incredible amount, so not sure how they'd stand up to abuse...

On top of that, in my experience, Rick is a stand-up seller who sells some of the best quality stuff, so if there are any junky Frank B's out there, you most likely won't get them from Rick or any of the other highly respected guys on sharperdeals :)
ILikeStilettos wrote:Armando has the low end SKM and the high end AB lines ... AGA comes from Angelo Gianni Angelo ... Their low end line is AKC (A Knife Company)
I thought it was Automatic Knife Company?

Either way I won't touch these low-end lines owned by high-end Maniago cutlers anymore. I've been burned 4 times by AKC and SKM and that's enough for me. For stilettos at least; I haven't tried any of AKC's renowned leverlock knives which they are known for (one day I probably will), but rather their stilettos which were nice but really not on par with most of the other stuff I've gotten from other cutler's main name brands. SKM's non-"AB Italy"-stamped stuff (they are simply marked "made in italy") were big disappointments for me. On the other hand, I have nothing but high praise for the impeccable quality of the pieces that came from Armando's personal workshop, though.
Last edited by Luke_of_Mass on Fri Jan 27, 2017 2:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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sammy the blade
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Re: My Beltrame Family Collection

Post by sammy the blade »

Dave, thanks for the information! I found it quite interesting and informative.
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