Meteorite and Bog Oak Damascus Dagger

Product Description for Meteorite and Bog Oak Damascus Dagger

Maker: Hennie du Plessis (click to see more by this maker)
Price: $3,600.00
Item num: 111230
Blade length: 8.00 in.
Cutting edge length: 7.20 in.
Total length: 13.20 in.
Blade height (at heel): 1.38 in.
Blade thickness (near bolster): 0.28 in.
Blade thickness (at midpoint): 0.28 in.
Blade thickness (near tip): 0.10 in.
Item weight: 13.00 oz.
Shipment weight: 28.4 oz.
Blade: Damascus forged from carbon steels and incorporating meteorite shavings with a gun black finish
Bolster: Gun blued mild steel with 24k gold inlays, hand engraving, and Gibeon meteorite accents
Handle: Ancient bog oak
Description: South African knifemaker Hennie du Plessis creates an exceptional knife – and this is among his masterpieces to date. Combining bog oak with gold inlay, damascus, Gibeon meteorite, and damascus that incorporates meteorite into the steel easily makes this one of the most dramatic and unique knives ever to have been on BladeGallery.
The 8 inch blade was forged from carbon steel with the intricate damascus pattern created from shaving of meteorite forged into the darker steel. The lore surrounding damascus suggests that the smiths originally creating damascus may have incorporated meteorite into their craft, connecting these extraordinary weapons and the cosmos. This tradition has been continued into the contemporary era by skilled craftsman such as Bob Kramer, Yoshindo Yoshihara and Rick Furrer, though these blades are exceptionally rare and hard to come by. The pattern created by the many shards of meteorite certainly sparks the imagination. The dramatic, unique steel was hand ground and features a dramatic fuller moving from the edges of the ricasso up the center of the blade. Each side of the ricasso is overlaid with a pristine section of Gibeon meteorite, secured with a gold screw.
The Gibeon meteorite landed in Great Namaqualand, Namibia, Africa. It radio carbon dates to over 4 billion years ago. Gibeon fragments are spread over one of the largest strewn fields in the world, measuring 70 miles wide by 230 miles long and have a distinctive pattern known as the Widmanstatten pattern, which is one of the richest and most distinct patterns found in meteorites. The crystalline patterns can only form in the vacuum of space. The large metallic crystals require millions of years of cooling to form from a molten planetary core fragment. It has been estimated that it took about 1000 years for these molten pieces of planetary core to cool by just 1 degree Celsius!
The quillion guard is polished and gun blued mild steel, inlaid with 24k gold accents. The center of each quillion features a hand engraved fleurette surrounded by an inlaid 24k gold frame. The engraving and gold inlay were done by Ilze du Plessis, Hennie's wife. The sides of the quillion are hand fluted. Fluted and gun blued spacers surround the Ukrainian bog oak handle. This wood has been buried in a bog for hundreds or sometimes thousands of years. The extremely low oxygen conditions of the bog protect the wood from normal decay, while the underlying peat provides acidic conditions where iron salts and other minerals react with tannins in the wood, gradually giving it a distinct variegated black/grey color. The handle culminates in a gun blued mild steel pommel. The base of the pommel features a large dome of solid Gibeon meteorite.
The dagger is accompanied by a custom sheath built by Felicity McNamara, South African’s best known high end sheath maker. The leather is hand tooled throughout. The front features a section of pristine black stingray leather.
We are also including a copy of the book, Meteorites: A South African Perspective by Ronnie McKenzie, which includes extensive information about Gibeon meteorite landfall. Absolutely exceptional!


Availability: In stock. Usually ships in 1-2 business days