Victorinox has come out with a new “refined, redesigned, and re-imagined” collection of Classic Precious Alox Swiss Army Knives that feature a “distinctive, tactile woven pattern”.
Victorinox’s Alox series of Swiss Army Knives feature a milled-type of texture and embossed aluminum handle scales, in contrast to their typical smooth plastic handle scales.
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Like the Alox Classis Swiss Army Knives, the new Precious Alox Collection tools feature a compact and minimalist design, equipped with a knife blade, nail file, screwdriver, scissors, and a key ring.
Victorinox says that this design gives you everything you need and nothing you don’t.
Victorinox Classic Precious Alox Collection Colors (2021)
The new style of mini multi-tool is launching with 5 color options:
- Brass Gold
- Gentle Rose
- Infinite Gray
- Iconic Red
- Hazel Brown
Victorinox Classic Precious Alox Swiss Army Knife Specs
- 2.3″ length
- 0.2″ height
- Weighs 0.6 oz
Victorinox Classic Precious Alox Swiss Army Knife Tools & Functions
- Knife blade
- Nail file
- Screwdriver
- Scissors
- Key ring
Pricing and Availability
At the time of this posting, you can only buy the new Victorinox Precisions Alox series of tools through the brand’s direct storefront.
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Price: $50
Discussion
The “standard” Victorinox Swiss Army Classic knife/multi-tool is priced at ~$24.
See Also: Silver Alox via Amazon
$24 is already a premium compared to Victorinox’s plastic-handled tools of similar size and function. I should note that the Alox keychain-sized tools skip the toothpick and mini tweezers that are available in the non-Alox versions.
That’s not to say that Victorinox’s regular Classic small knives aren’t great, because they are, and the brand has introduced new colors and patterns in recent years that make these tools more fun to carry and even collectable.
Victorinox comes out with a new “color of the year” each year, and they have also recently come out with new Alox Classic knives in a rainbow of new regular color options. The new Classic Alox collection tools are priced at $29, and the colors of the year are usually pricier, with the 2021 “tiger orange” tool of this size being priced at $40.
Okay, so the non-Alox tools are $16-20, depending on the color or pattern, the plain silver (natural?) finish Alox tool is ~$24, the new color options are $29, and the “limited edition” color of the year Swiss Army Knife is $40. These new Alex Precious tools are $50 each.
Victorinox describes this new collection of Precious Alox as being “a range for trendsetters, clear thinkers and big dreamers.”
Personally, I think the price jump is a bit too much. If these had anodized titanium handle scales, that would be different, but as far as I can tell, you get the same tools and the same handle material but with the new surface pattern and texture.
If the new colors and almost carbon fiber-like woven pattern texture call to you, I won’t judge.
Some of you might be thinking – why post about this if you think the price is a bit prohibitive for what you get? First, I really like this size and style of Victorinox Swiss Army knife, and heartily recommend the more affordable options. Second, I really like that Victorinox has been coming out with new colors and patterns every year. Third, the new colors and patterns suggest that Victorinox is catering towards a broader audience, and that’s a good thing – and it seems to be working. Too many people have come to treat basic knives and multi-tools as weapons instead of the tools that they are, and brands like Victorinox are helping to normalize things.
If you’ve never used one of these before, check out the more affordable color options, via Amazon. And if you’re new to the lineup, keep in mind that this is Victorinox’s small keychain-sized tool.
Hilton
Too naf for me. Maybe some of my kid’s beta male friends may like them.
Gordon
I love these keychain Classics. I have them on every set of keys. My main keys have a vintage version from my grandfather. The scissors are insanely useful. But I think the tweezers and toothpick (never used on my teeth though) are my most used tools. Therefor I consider the cost, and exclusion of those 2 features to be complete deal breakers.
Tim D.
Spot on. I love the alox knives, but no toothpick/tweezers is a complete turn off.
Robert
I have a couple alox vic knives that I’m quite fond of. I’ve always viewed them as kind of a niche however. Their main draw has always been the versatility, easy maintenance and sharpening, and low cost.
While the texure and colors on these are different and cool, the price is still overly optimistic on their part. I like them, but wouldn’t pay 50 bucks for one. I’ve also discovered that with metal scales on virtually any brand, they look good in the original packaging. After spending a few days in a pocket with coins, keys, whatever, they don’t tend to look as good after that. If I’m going for alox, just a personal thing, I’m either going for the straight silver, or I’m not going.
Robert
For more clarification, the colors tend to get scraped off pretty easily in my experience. They’re fine for collecting, but not super practical for EDC.
Jared
I appreciate Victorinox generally. They are good quality and seem to have cultivated a reputation as the least-intimidating type of knife you can carry. I realize those of us multi-tool and EDC carriers might roll our eyes at that, but when you pull out your Skeletool at the office to open up a new bag of coffee… some of your coworkers might look at you funny.
Leaving aside the price, I like the look of the new scales. It’s interesting. I kind of wish they did more than just change the colors every year, but if you’ve got a good product I suppose not much more is necessary.
Were I to take the reins, I’d try coming out with new scales like this – PLUS a premium knife-blade. Nothing wrong with the 420 standard they use now – but I’d be willing to pay the higher premium price if I thought there was some premium utility too.
Brian A
There is always a classic in my pocket and one in every car. Small and very useful, sure many times you may want a bigger EDC but these have value. Wish you could still get them cheaper, think I paid less than $10 for some versions/colors and even less the time I went to the factory sale in CT. Really want the gold alox, but hard to spend $40-50 on it. One of the famous sayings in the house is “I lost my pocket knife” being so small they tend to fall out of loose pockets or I leave them somewhere.
Bryan
Not having a toothpick and tweezers are a deal breaker for the alox model, and the same goes with these. Is there no way Victorinox can include those? Seems like it would be quite easy and popular.
Koko The Talking Ape
The alox versions of the Classic leave out the toothpick and tweezers, but in exchange, they are somewhat thinner than the plastic handles.
Re the “Precious,” I don’t mind the texture, because these guys are small and the texture might help you keep a good grip on them. But the colors, and any colors at all on the alox? No. It will wear off.
The regular alox ones also have some texture. There is one that’s uncolored, and that’s the one I’d get.
The plain plastic ones do wear too, maybe more than the alox, but at least the color goes all the way through so the scratches aren’t so apparent. I imagine that’s not true of the ones with printed designs (like soccer balls, national flags, etc.)
But the only tool I’ve missed having on a Classic is a bottle-opener, so now I carry around a Rambler, which is the same length, a bit thicker, and adds a bottle-opener/PH screwdriver.
Matt the Hoople
I have a couple of the Alox knives A cadet and a soldier or something like that. They rarely get carried because of the lack of tweezers and tooth pick. Even worse, they don’t have a corkscrew. I don’t drink wine but the corkscrew is invaluable. It is the single best tool on the market for removing knots from cord and string. It also serves as a holder for the eyeglass screwdriver. Additionally, the standard knives also hold a pin under the corkscrew. So, in summary, the alox versions (at least in the bigger knives) give up 5 tools compared to the plastic handled equivalent. On top of that, they cost significantly more than the plastic handled versions. They are thinner. To compensate I bought a Waiter which is almost as thin as the Alox cadet. The main sacrifice being the loss of the nail file.
I have some of the classics and my keychain carries a manager. Same size as the classic but adds a bottle opener/small Phillips driver and replaces the toothpick with a retractable ball point pen that has come in handy hundreds of times.
If they put this new pattern Alox on the Cadet and figure out how to get the price closer to $40, I’d buy one just to have cause they look nice. At $50 for a classic, I’ll pass.
928'er
I’ve been quite surprised at how much cred the SAK gets over on the Blade Forum.
I’ve always considered the SAK as something you give your girlfriend – not something you would carry yourself – at least that’s what I’ve done in the past. Given a few of them away as gifts, never owned one myself…
Koko The Talking Ape
Well, they’re beautifully made, with a mirror polish on all faces. The steel is easy to sharpen, though it isn’t particularly hard. (They have a taper grind, but that’s not unusual for a pocket knife.) And they come in a wide variety of sizes and tool combinations.
Those are the selling points for me.
Tom
My daily carry is a rambler – gotta have a bottle opener handy! Classics are a nice tiny option though. I don’t see a need to carry anything larger on a regular basis.
Scott ALKB
I carry a 91mm CyberTool 41 SAK at all times, so I’ve always considered the classic size as way too small. I’m definitely not spending $50 on reduced functionality.