Gentleman’s knives, sometimes called executive knives, are hard to pin down. There’s no set blade length, shape, or material that makes a knife one. As Stefan Schmalhaus puts it in The Gentleman’s Pocket Knife, “you know one when you see one.”

In general, a gentleman’s knife is slim, light, and understated enough to carry at the office, out to dinner, or with a suit on Sunday. It’s made for small, everyday cuts, often from the same kinds of materials you’d find on a good watch or pen. Our first knife, the Solstice, was designed around Ric’s collection of fine pens, and that idea still shapes every gentleman’s knife we make.

Size. A blade around 3" to 3.5" handles most daily tasks and still fits in a pocket. Our gentleman’s knives fall in that range, from the 3" Regis to the 3.5" Solstice. Check local blade-length limits before you carry.

Weight. Under 3 oz is easy to forget in a pocket. The carbon fiber Solstice weighs 1.7 oz, and the titanium version is 2.5 oz.

Lock. A liner lock, as on the Solstice, or Andrew Demko’s Shark-Lock on the Regis holds the blade open securely. A slipjoint like the Sovranto has no lock, which some people prefer where knife rules are stricter.

Materials. Titanium and carbon fiber keep the weight down and hold up to daily carry. Powder steels like S35VN and MagnaCut hold an edge well with ordinary use.

Clip. A deep-carry clip keeps the knife low in your pocket. We designed ours to fold over the top of the handle and to hide the trough and screw holes used to reverse it, so the knife looks clean whichever side you carry it on.

Finish. A gentleman’s knife is also a personal item. We offer anodized and engraved Solstices, and we can build custom configurations, like blade swaps and anodized scales, to make one your own.