Victorinox

These were produced in five generations, known by the date of their introduction as models 1890, 1908, 1951, 1961 and "08" (with minor variants within each generation).

Model 1890 was originally produced by Wester & Co, Solingen, and produced by Elsenser in competition with the Solingen manufacturer.

Models 1908 and 1951 were also produced by several companies in Germany and Switzerland.

Model 1961 was produced exclusively by Victorinox and Wenger, and Model 08, introduced after the acquisition of Wenger, is exclusively manufactured by Victorinox.

Wenger acquisition

On 26 April 2005, Victorinox acquired Wenger, the other official supplier of the Swiss Army knife, announcing that it intended to keep both brands intact, only separate entities.

In 2006, the company had a workforce of 900 employees. Its daily output was about 34000 Swiss Army knives, 38000 multi-tools, and 30000 household kitchen knives. Approximately 90% of its production is exported to more than 100 countries.

On 30 January 2013, Victorinox announced that the company was merging Wenger's knife product lines with the Victorinox brand to strengthen its competitive position internationally.

SwissCard

The SwissCard is roughly the size of a business card, typically with a small pair of scissors, a short non-folding knife, a small file with a screwdriver point, a plastic toothpick, tweezers, a slim ballpoint pen, and a straight pin, housed in a hard plastic case of 82 × 54.5 x 4.5 mm in size, with an inch ruler on one side and metric measurements on the other.

Victorinox produces three types of SwissCards, the Classic, the Quattro and the Lite model. All three models differ in the number of functions they provide, ranging from 10 (Classic) to 13 functions (Quattro and Lite).

Cutlery

Victorinox has long produced other kitchen cutlery under their own name and the Forschner brand name.

In 2011 Victorinox stopped using the Forschner name and has since manufactured the same knives only with the Victorinox name.

Professional knives

Victorinox make a range of household and professional (NSF certified) food preparation knives.

They offer chef's knives, bread, carving, filleting, deboning, paring, Santoku and specialized knives such as a cheese knife. Victorinox models are made with molded plastic handles, wooden handles or riveted handles.

Most models have stamped blades, but one series has a forged bolster. They also have no ricasso – the flat section of the blade located at the junction of the blade and the heel.

Most models use stainless steel blades and one type is also available with ceramic blades.

Bayonets

Victorinox also produces the Sturmgewehr 90 bayonet for the Swiss Sturmgewehr 90 assault rifle.

The bayonet has an overall length of 310 mm and a muzzle ring diameter of 22 mm. The 177 mm long blade is single-edged and it has no fuller.

The bayonets were manufactured exclusively for the Swiss Army by both Wenger and Victorinox before the two companies merged.

Timepieces

In 1989, Victorinox entered the timepiece business in the United States under the brand name "Swiss Army".

Victorinox has various collections of watches which range from luxury dress watches to rugged diving watches. They feature mechanical and quartz movements. Collections include Infantry, Heritage, Divemaster, Airboss and I.N.O.X. The timepieces are all produced in Switzerland.

In 2014, Victorinox introduced the I.N.O.X. range of watches which it claims are resistant to high levels of shock, including being run over by a tank.

Luggage and clothing

In 2014, Victorinox acquired the TRG Group from Centric Group.

For several years, TRG Group was the Victorinox licensee for the manufacturing of luggage and travel-oriented products. Victorinox integrated TRG Group in the company as the Victorinox Travel Gear division.

In 2017, Victorinox decided to close the apparel division with the purpose of focusing in other core product lines.

Others

Victorinox produced a fashion line up until the late 1990s, but retired from this project in 2017.

In 2012, Victorinox licensed its name to luggage manufacturer TRG Accessories to produce branded travel gear and business accessories. Victorinox acquired TRG Accessories from Centric Group in 2014.

A number of Emissive Energy Corps products have been redesigned and rebranded as Victorinox LED flashlights.

Most are available with a knurled aluminium body, similar to Swiss Army knives. Similarly, SwissTools are Victorinox's multi-tools, i.e. a pair of pliers with other tools folded into the grips.

Operation

North America

In 1972, the Forschner Butcher Scale Company of New Britain, Connecticut became the exclusive Victorinox distributor for the United States.

In 1981, the company went public, and Charles Elsener, president of Victorinox, acquired a significant percentage of its shares. In 1983, it was renamed the Forschner Group, Inc. In the 1980s, Forschner registered the Swiss Army name as a trademark in the USA.

In 1992, Precise Imports Corp., a U.S. and Canadian importer of Wenger knives, sued and Forschner retained the rights to use the trademark on its compasses, timepieces, and sunglasses, while Precise could use it in marketing other non-knife items. In the mid-1990s, Forschner changed its name to Swiss Army Brands, Inc. (SABI).

In 2001, Victorinox teamed up with SABI to establish an international watch company, Victorinox Swiss Army Watch AG. In August 2002, Victorinox acquired all remaining shares of SABI to gain control of the Swiss Army trademark.

Previously, SABI had sold the Swiss Army branded watch in North America and—under the license—the Victorinox branded watch outside North America. But afterwards, the combined Victorinox Swiss Army brand has been marketed worldwide.