Boker blades show the influence of many different national styles, which might be expected from a company with roots on three different continents. Boker intentionally patterns knives after popular regional designs, which often developed because they were the best blade for the local conditions. You’ll see familiar shapes like the puuko of Scandinavia and the American Bowie blade, produced with the best modern steel and the high standards of German engineering.
One of the company’s symbols, a giant tree, recalls the origin of the Boker company in Remscheid, Germany, where in the 17th Century a chestnut tree shaded the first Boker workshop. The company started out producing tools, including military sabers for the first time in 1829. By 1865, Boker had production facilities not just in Germany but in New York, Canada, and Mexico. World War II destroyed the company’s factory in Solingen, but international holdings in Argentina and Chile helped the company recover. Boker’s American division continued as a branch of Cooper Industries before becoming an independent corporation again, resulting in two different Boker brands being sold in the American market at the same time. Boker U.S.A, based in Denver, Colorado, uses the same trademark symbols as H. Boker Improved Cutlery, based in Solingen, Germany. You’ll also find the words “Treebrand” and “Arbolito” on the knives, a legacy of Boker’s history in South America.
Boker produces one of the largest product lines of any cutlery company, covering virtually every knife application, from military automatics to Damascus steel culinary knives. Boker’s line of slip-joint pocket knives looks as American as any U.S.-made folder; but you’ll find exceptional steel in Boker knives, along with very exacting standards. Sporting knives in folding and fixed blade styles follow the traditional knife patterns of hunting and fishing cultures from Europe, North America and South America. The common feature all include is precision. That approach extends to one of Boker’s newest products, the Gorm collection of kitchen cutlery. Designed by Danish knifemaker Jesper Voxnaes, the Gorm knives adapt Viking blade styles to the needs of today’s chefs.
