The SWIZA pocket knife receives the highest design award: the Red Dot 2016

The SWIZA pocket knife receives the highest design award: the Red Dot 2016

Curated by Aline Chahine | 
July 4, 2019
| Est. Reading: 3 minutes

The new SWIZA Swiss knife is one of the outstanding products of the year: the Red Dot panel showed its enthusiasm by bestowing the highest possible award on SWIZA: a Red Dot Best of the Best. Just 1.5% of the products presented at the competition received this prestigious award in 2016.

The SWIZA pocket knife receives the highest design award: the Red Dot 2016
SWIZA D03 – A great challenge: concentrating on the basics and eliminating superfluities / © SWIZA

Starting from a blank page a small team of specialists from very different fields, under the leadership of the co-founders, Peter Hug and Florian Lachat, was searching a distinctive approach and fresh solutions to redefine the Swiss Knife, while at the same time respecting the more than 120 years old tradition of Swiss knife making. On 21 October 2015, SWIZA unveiled the new SWIZA Swiss knife to the world.

The SWIZA pocket knife receives the highest design award: the Red Dot 2016
SWIZA D03 – A great challenge: concentrating on the basics and eliminating superfluities / © SWIZA

A great challenge: concentrating on the basics

The project management was complex: to interpret the spirit of the brand and its strategic goals and then to visibly imbue the design with them, to sift ideas and to question everything. A great team spirit grew up and everybody was fully committed. At that point, technical quality and design quality were given the same standing: a pretty design alone would not suffice. The product had to be innovative and to capture the emotions. That is only possible with hard work and with courage. Eliminating superfluities and concentrating on the basics is something that seems so simple, but the process was a great challenge for both the designers and for the technical team.

The SWIZA pocket knife receives the highest design award: the Red Dot 2016
The true beauty of any functional object becomes evident in its handling, otherwise it remains an aesthetically pleasing shell. SWIZA D04 / © SWIZA

High-quality Swiss design

The Swiss Made SWIZA knife transmits a clear message. This modern, uncluttered creation focuses on materials, functions and finish. The new Swiss knife successfully blends a contemporary design and modern technology, while the development of ergonomic factors such as safety, grip and intuitive use bring the product to life. The outcome of this work is a modern Swiss knife and an important step in the evolution of the product. The SWIZA combines a multitude of practical functions, subtly integrated technical innovations, high-tech materials and modern manufacturing methods in a “simple” form with a clean outline.

The SWIZA pocket knife receives the highest design award: the Red Dot 2016
© SWIZA

Such an ingenious little product

While the curved shape of its handle offers an intuitive grip facilitated by the high-resistance non-slip texture, the extra curves on its sides ultimately provide you with a highly anatomical final form. The tools are protected within the arch. The cut of the tools allows direct access for right and left-handers alike and lends it an audacious balance between handle shape and the overall look of the knife. Ingeniously integrated into the handle, the Swiss cross – the brand symbol – becomes much more than an identifying element: it guarantees the user improved safety thanks to a blade locking system unprecedented in a knife of this size. Each component had been developed with meticulous care like the mechanical movements of a watch.

The SWIZA pocket knife receives the highest design award: the Red Dot 2016
© SWIZA

Up to 11 functions available

In addition to the extra-solid and especially hard stainless steel blade with its high-power cutting edge, other tools as practical as they are well-designed make this knife an essential everyday companion: a sommelier’s five-spiral corkscrew, a cross-head screwdriver, a flat-blade screwdriver, a punch and an awl with a perfect cutting edge, a universal bottle opener, a can opener and a pair of tweezers with a high-precision bevelled tip. The knife is available in four versions, ranging from 4 to 6 tools and in four fresh colours, thereby meeting the particular needs of its users. Manufactured and assembled in the Swiss Jura, the SWIZA knife is made to the highest quality standards of the cutlery industry.

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