Your oldest Latama?

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thom
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by thom »

texans123 wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 11:04 pm Only have one or two old ones. With the Latama in the box stamp. I've heard this is the rarest stamp, but not sure about the earliest, would be cool if this is the very early stamp. Hope to learn more. Excellent blades shown here by all :)
That horn is awesome. Wonder what it looked like 70 years ago?
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texans123
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by texans123 »

thom wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 11:37 pm
texans123 wrote: Tue Sep 22, 2020 11:04 pm Only have one or two old ones. With the Latama in the box stamp. I've heard this is the rarest stamp, but not sure about the earliest, would be cool if this is the very early stamp. Hope to learn more. Excellent blades shown here by all :)
That horn is awesome. Wonder what it looked like 70 years ago?
I've seen one or two old Latamas with the horn like the front scale. Not sure what it's called, but it's cool.
METALGOD
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by METALGOD »

i could be wrong but if i remember correctly the Latama in a box stamp is the oldest or first stamp the factory used , second wave i think was ( Latama - Made in Italy) , 3rd stamp ( Latama-Italy)
WheelingWV
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by WheelingWV »

Awesome Latamas, y’all. Fantastic to see them!👍
Mistakes are like knives. They can help us or they can hurt us. It all depends on whether we grab ‘em by the handle or by the blade.
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Panzerfaust
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by Panzerfaust »

This eight-inch wasp is my oldest.
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JimBrown257
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by JimBrown257 »

METALGOD wrote: Wed Sep 23, 2020 12:01 am i could be wrong but if i remember correctly the Latama in a box stamp is the oldest or first stamp the factory used , second wave i think was ( Latama - Made in Italy) , 3rd stamp ( Latama-Italy)
Any idea what the years were for those stamps?
WheelingWV
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by WheelingWV »

Your wasp is a beauty, Panzerfaust!
Mistakes are like knives. They can help us or they can hurt us. It all depends on whether we grab ‘em by the handle or by the blade.
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thom
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by thom »

Does this one count? It's not very old. But a beauty.
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Luke_of_Mass
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by Luke_of_Mass »

My only Latama ... which a good friend Eric (Rock and Roll $$$$) sold to me after my rather disappointing snafu with Walt's "Latamas" in Autumn of 2018. It wouldn't be until February 2019 and a visit to the Gator show that I learned Latamas in general aren't really all that rare, they're just expensive :lol:

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Knee-deep in the hoopla...
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fastr19
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by fastr19 »

You're right. They are not really that rare...an urban myth.
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Luke_of_Mass
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by Luke_of_Mass »

Yeah, I mean don't get me wrong, certain subsets of the stamp and bolster or button type are indeed fairly hard to find. But if your goal is to simply acquire any knife from the 50's with the name Latama on it, just walk into a decent-sized knife show with a thousand bucks in your pocket and you'll be done in 30 minutes.

My search for a second BV&F stamp ended just last week after three years of searching. Of course most people wouldn't care about this stamp much unless they were especially fanatical about the Beltrame family in particular, but I digress...

I think the stigma around Latama is partially due to modern marketing tactics like those found in The Latama Legend, referring to it as the cadillac of stilettos when in reality all these knives came from the same few factories sharing parts with each other.
Knee-deep in the hoopla...
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JulesVane
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by JulesVane »

Luke_of_Mass wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 12:45 am My only Latama ... which a good friend Eric (Rock and Roll $$$$) sold to me after my rather disappointing snafu with Walt's "Latamas" in Autumn of 2018. It wouldn't be until February 2019 and a visit to the Gator show that I learned Latamas in general aren't really all that rare, they're just expensive :lol:
I've always loved that 8" Latama Kris blade you have there Luke! There's just something about that one.
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"By accepting you as you are, I do not necessarily abandon all hope of your improving"- My Wife (1963-Present)
WheelingWV
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by WheelingWV »

Beautiful Latamas, folks. Thanks for sharing. Thom, love those scales! You have good taste, Sir. Luke_of_Mass, that Kris blade is unbelievable! Great pictures.
Last edited by WheelingWV on Thu Sep 24, 2020 3:26 am, edited 1 time in total.
Mistakes are like knives. They can help us or they can hurt us. It all depends on whether we grab ‘em by the handle or by the blade.
WheelingWV
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by WheelingWV »

Luke, if the popularity and resulting valuations of Latama spring steel is a result of marketing tactics, count me as a willing victim. LOL

Also... Go Steelers!
Assuming you’re a Pat’s fan.

(All in good fun, Sir, all in good fun)
Mistakes are like knives. They can help us or they can hurt us. It all depends on whether we grab ‘em by the handle or by the blade.
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Panzerfaust
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Re: Your oldest Latama?

Post by Panzerfaust »

Luke_of_Mass wrote: Thu Sep 24, 2020 2:02 am Yeah, I mean don't get me wrong, certain subsets of the stamp and bolster or button type are indeed fairly hard to find. But if your goal is to simply acquire any knife from the 50's with the name Latama on it, just walk into a decent-sized knife show with a thousand bucks in your pocket and you'll be done in 30 minutes.

My search for a second BV&F stamp ended just last week after three years of searching. Of course most people wouldn't care about this stamp much unless they were especially fanatical about the Beltrame family in particular, but I digress...

I think the stigma around Latama is partially due to modern marketing tactics like those found in The Latama Legend, referring to it as the cadillac of stilettos when in reality all these knives came from the same few factories sharing parts with each other.
I don't disagree but Latamas are not common, either if you don't know where to find them. I think the internet has brought a lot of vintage Italian switchblades out of the woodwork. I visited many gun shows and flea markets in the 1980s-1990s and only saw several vintage stilettos.
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