Wenger and Victorinox are Swiss cutlery firms who manufacture authentic Swiss Army Knives. They are the only two firms commissioned to manufacture knives for Swiss military forces and the only two firms authorized to use the Swiss cross and shield on their knives. Victorinox markets themselves as makers of the 'Original' Swiss Army Knife and Wenger markets themselves as makers of the 'Genuine' Swiss Army Knife.
In North America, Victorinox has always been the most popular of the two brands and as such their knives were distributed in the US, Canada and the Caribbean by Swiss Army Brands, Inc. based out of Shelton, CT. They licensed the Victorinox name and logo on watches, luggage, wallets and other travel accessories. Eventually, Swiss Army Brands, Inc. was bought by Victorinox and they continue to produce knives, watches and travel gear under 'Victorinox', 'Swiss Army' and 'Victorinox Swiss Army' labels.
In order to compete with Victorinox, Wenger released it's own line of watches under their brand name 'Wenger' and 'Wenger Swiss Military' all of which are Swiss Made timepieces.
Well, after 9/11 the cutlery industry took a big hit and Wenger's sales eventually fell to the point where they went bankrupt and were almost bought out by a Chinese company, but not before Victorinox jumped in and bought out Wenger in order to keep the company in Swiss hands. So as of 2005, Wenger has been owned by Victorinox; however, Victorinox decided to keep Wenger operating under it's own brand name.
Keep in mind that Wenger is not a sub-brand of Victorinox. It's just another division and watches of both brands are very well made and of excellent quality.
Victorinox's watch site:
http://www.victorinoxswissarmy.com/
Wenger's watch site:
http://www.wengerwatch.com/
Now, to complicate things even further. There is a watch company based in Quebec, Canada called the Wenger Watch Company (
http://wengerwatch.ca) and they also sell Swiss watches, but are not affiliated with Wenger of Switzerland or Victorinox. Because of the trademark conflict, Wenger of Switzerland has to sell their watches in Canada under the 'Swiss Military' brand. Just in case you ever come across a Wenger watch in the wild and want to know which one is which, they have different logos and fonts.
21.12.2014, 15:02
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