Description
In March of 2026, Timo Verschuren of the Netherlands and Antoine Kniamen of France set out to make two knives together. The premise was simple: each maker would forge a blade for the other to handle, and each would build a handle for the other’s blade. The results are exactly what you’d hope for when two makers of this caliber turn their attention toward each other’s work.
The blade tells the collaboration’s story in layers. Antoine designed and forged the damascus cladding in France before shipping it to Timo, who layered it over a core of ApexUltra tungsten-carbon steel to produce the final billet. The pattern that emerged is organic and captivating, dense and concentric in one moment, open and meandering the next, as though shaped by forces from within. Symmetrical convex bevels converge at a very thin, hard, razor-sharp edge, sanded by hand to a brilliant high-polish finish. The spine tapers distally from 4.4mm above the choil to 1.7mm at the midpoint, to 0.8mm an inch from the tip, and thinner still to a glass-fine culmination. The result is a touch of lateral flexibility in the forward inches balanced by a strong, rigid rear for the toughest cuts. Geometry and heat treatment working in concert.
Antoine’s contribution extends to the handle as well. Carved from translucent orange Ultem in a traditional octagonal wa form, the grip is comfortable, versatile, and unlike any other. We would normally call this a hidden tang construction, but that wouldn’t quite be accurate here. Through the Ultem, light bends and shifts rather than reflects, and the blade’s tang, flanked by pieces of wood, is clearly visible within. A collar of polished stainless steel caps the assembly. Nothing is hidden. Everything is intentional.
Two makers, two countries, one knife. It shows.
