Consoli Sergio
Traditions of Italian knifemaking in the Consoli's knives
Knives with the signature of Sergio Consoli on the blade belong to the premium segment of the world of knifemaking. The master found his mission already at a mature age. For most of his life, Sergio Consoli was engineering various kinds of mechanical systems and professionally versed in the methods of processing materials and technologies for assembling mechanisms.
At the age of 40, Sergio began to study the art of knife making. As the master admitted, he began to create knives, because he could no longer not do it. Sergio Consoli had an excellent theoretical basis, but still he was a newbie in knife making. Each operation for processing steel and assembling a knife had to be studied in practice.
The master was so carried away by the creation ща a folder that he did not share his pleasure with colleagues in the Knife Guild and factories that create hardware.
Everything — from the clip to the finish of the blade — is the result of the painstaking work of Sergio himself. Absolutely every detail of the knife is created and adjusted by the knife maker himself. Sergio Consoli claims he uses ordinary machines that can be found in the workshop of any locksmith.
Consoli's undisputed talent quickly gained recognition from colleagues. The master created his first knife in 2003, and in 2005 he received several Knifemaker’s awards. First, Sergio Consoli was awarded the Best Exhibition Table prize at the Italian knife show Lame Sotto I Portici in Romano di Lombardia. Then in the same year the craftsman's custom folder earned the title of "Best folding knife" at the exhibition in Novegro. In addition, Sergio Consoli's work won second place in the Best Fixed Hunting Blade category in the competition organized by Lame D'Autore magazine.
In 2007, at the exhibition in Scarperia, Consoli again became one of the laureates, his knife was recognized as the "Best Folder" of the exposition. However, 2007 is valuable for the Knifemaker with another recognition: Sergio Consoli passed the exam for the title of Maestro Della Corporazione Italiana Coltellinai the first time. It sounds cumbersome, but, in fact, the pretentious name means that Sergio Consoli was admitted to the Italian Knife Guild with the highest rank “master”.
The European artisan guilds are not some trade unions pushing for higher wages. And they are not associations created to increase income for “knives made in Italy” label. The guilds have a long history, they develop strict manufacturing standards and guarantee the quality of the work of each member of the association.
The quality of Sergio Console's knives is undeniable. The Italian knifemaker believes that serving art does not tolerate fuss, and he works slowly and with the highest quality. Over the years, he has perfected the technique, improving the blade's movement with his own bearing system in the axle assembly. New mechanics made the knife flip soft and smooth.
As for the materials for the blade, the master constantly experiments with various alloys, but more often he prefers steel RWL34, for its high manufacturability and the practical absence of internal defects. In his special models, the master uses Damascus (some models of his knives are even made of colored mosaic Damascus by Bertie Rietveld from RSA).
The shapes of Sergio's blades and knives are quite varied. However, the Console style is always recognizable. In his works, the master uses a wide range of natural and synthetic materials. In the decoration of his small masterpieces, we can find elephant tusks, precious woods and various types of carbon. Knives with engraved steel scales stand out especially in his work. Such as, for example, the Wild Viking flipper from the collection of the Maria Stalina Knives.
Sergio Console's creations are real custom knives, the master believes that a knife in which at least one screw is machined at the factory does not have the right to be called “custom”.
