Real or fake

[hearandgone]

Bill, is this genuine or not? Thanks

[Tom19176]

Fake....Waiting for Bill...

[Bartlow]

I feel like I just saw this knife on eBay!

[JulesVane]

Fake....Waiting for Bill...

Agreed, Tom. Bolster is really wrong.

[Killgar]

It's as authentic as this "Microtech". (which is- not at all )

[Tom19176]

Yup...The Bolsters was enough to not even look for other signs of it being fake.....

[Bill DeShivs]

Since you asked-it's fake.
If a Leverletto-marked knife does not look exactly like the ones in JulesVane's picture, it's fake.
The only exceptions are the tactical Leverlettos, which are pretty distinctive and to my knowledge have not been counterfeited.

[Bartlow]

I see a difference in the design of the lever from the picture the OP posted and the picture Jules Vane posted. The counterfeit knife has a round top on the lever, the real knives have corners at the top ends and a rounded area in the middle. I am not seeing a difference in the bolster at the blade end of the fake knife versus the real. Does the real knife have essentially flat bolsters at the blade end? Can someone describe what's wrong with the counterfeit knife's bolster in words for me?

These counterfeits make this stiletto hobby hard for new people. The markings on legitimate Italian stilettos are inconsistent and cryptic. The markings on Chinese counterfeits are not a reliable indicator of who made something. It is easy to think a knife is or is not what it purports to be. This goes way beyond just the Leverletto knives. As a fairly new person to this, this is frustrating.

[Killgar]

I see a difference in the design of the lever from the picture the OP posted and the picture Jules Vane posted. The counterfeit knife has a round top on the lever, the real knives have corners at the top ends and a rounded area in the middle. I am not seeing a difference in the bolster at the blade end of the fake knife versus the real. Does the real knife have essentially flat bolsters at the blade end? Can someone describe what's wrong with the counterfeit knife's bolster in words for me?

These counterfeits make this stiletto hobby hard for new people. The markings on legitimate Italian stilettos are inconsistent and cryptic. The markings on Chinese counterfeits are not a reliable indicator of who made something. It is easy to think a knife is or is not what it purports to be. This goes way beyond just the Leverletto knives. As a fairly new person to this, this is frustrating.

Bill is the expert on Leverletto's (it is his design after all), but I'll offer an answer-

The fakes pictured in this thread (the one posted by the OP, and the knife I posted) have rounded, hollow guard bolsters. You can see the cutout in the bolster and the lever spring sticking out of it.

The real Leverletto's have flat, solid guard bolsters with the bottom ends bent upwards.

But it can't be that easy.

Just to complicate things, there are a lot of fake Leverletto's with flat, solid bolsters similar to the real ones. So you can't always tell just by the bolsters.

One telltale sign of a fake Leverletto is a screw holding the lever spring in place (pic below, red arrow). The real Leverlettos's have a pin.

But again, there are plenty of fake Leverletto's that have a pin holding the lever spring in place. So a spring pin is no guarantee of a real Leverletto.

Welcome to the world of switchblades. The more you read and study, the more you will know, and the better you're abilities will be to tell fake from legit.

There are other things wrong with this knife besides the screw (blade grind, wonky guard bolsters, bottom bolster pin head too big, etc)

Screenshot 2025-03-11 153607.png (190.69 KiB) Viewed 4037 times

[JulesVane]

...This is why I personally feel the entire AKC ITALY line is phasing out. With Angelo now spreading into the Chinese builders of his stiletto, swinguard and now even leverlock knives under AKC WORLD, AKC ROMA and AKC EXTREME, I just don't see anymore AKC ITALY knives on the horizon. He had tried switching his 9" AKC swinguards to A.G.A. Campolin, but that didn't seem to last long and those are gone too. I thought maybe he was going to change Bill's AKC Leverletto over to A,G.A. Campolin, but with the Chinese now making his leverlocks, I doubt that will happen. There's no way he's going to allow them to use Bill's design, when he's already sanctioned them to use the others. It's my personal opinion, though I'm positive Bill knows better than me, that the authentic AKC Leverletto prices are going to soar because of lack of new productions. Even to find a production model right now, you'd be lucky to find one under $200. All just my opinion and observations, of course.

[Bill DeShivs]

I just bought a used Leverletto online for $125, if that tells you anything.

There are no new cutlers in Maniago or Solingen. If there were, production of classic knives would continue. We are dinosaurs, destined for extinction.

Classic pinned knife construction is something that young people just don't comprehend. They think all handles should be metal, and screws should hold it all together.


I'm looking into US production of Leverlettos. I don't want another job and I don't need the money. I just hate to see a nice design go by the wayside.

[Tom19176]

Agree with Jules and Bill.....All the modern stuff is metal handles and screws.....Killgar, good work as always!

[JulesVane]

I see "Dolphins" have just introduced a slim line style leverlock they are calling a "Leverletto". I'm not sure if it's just a communication thing or what. No guards on them, and said to be made by Massaro. They also recently did some knives they called "Falcon", so I have no idea if Angelo is involved with these terms or not. The Falcon's weren't marked Falcon, and these new "Leverletto's" aren't marked Leverletto. So, possibly it's some sort of communication/language thing. I tagged Bill in the FB post.

[sammy the blade]

The AKC extremes are nice but they don't look like an Italian stiletto. I have a few of them and if you want to check them out they sell them on grindworx. Pretty sure they are made in Taiwan and not the usual China junk.

[JulesVane]

The AKC extremes are nice but they don't look like an Italian stiletto. I have a few of them and if you want to check them out they sell them on grindworx. Pretty sure they are made in Taiwan and not the usual China junk.

AKC ROMA, AKC WORLD and AKC XTREME are all Chinese. But, at least none are marked or sold as AKC ITALY, and the country of origin is disclosed in "most" descriptions. Though, many sites will use the old "Italian style" to throw off the unaware. But, like I mentioned above, when someone collects the older Falcon knives or authentic Leverletto, it stinks to see the names get used on newer products that have nothing to do with the originals. Sure causes some confusion (and arguments), especially with newer collectors.