Whilst red is the most common colour for Swiss Army Knives, it is not the only colour in which they are available. Victorinox and Wenger both offer a rainbow of colour choices for their many and various models. For both companies, the smallest models are the ones that are available in the widest variety of colours: Typically these being the Victorinox Classic and the Wenger Esquire models. However, larger models are also often available in a few different colour options.
The Victorinox Alox range are offered in a very wide variety of beautiful, annodised scale colours, particularly for the Pioneer and Farmer models. Consequently, collecting the Alox colours is a theme for many Swiss Army Knife collectors.
The Wenger 85mm Evolution models also offered various colour options for these innovative scales.
The details in this Wiki page summarise colour options up until the early to mid-201Xs; many of the non-standard colours listed below (eg not red, black or silver), are no longer available. However, after that time the Victorinox colour and scale options continued to expand, for instance with the Annual Alox Limited Editions, the Classic SD Annual LE Series, the 2021 Classic Colours Collection and the 2021 Precious Alox Collection. For more details see the Variations and Identifiers sections on the Classic page.
Victorinox Colours
Cellidor (Plastic) Scale Colours
Note: Most of these colours, apart from the core base colours (ie red, yellow, green, blue, black, white), are no longer available - However see the top section for links to information on currently available colours.
RED
Despite being the most common colour of SAK, Victorinox has the fewest shades of red available. Only red and ruby (translucent red) are found in this group.
ORANGE
The Orange Group includes four shades including some browns. The group is: Translucent orange; Taupe; Electric orange; and Rust. Upon further examination and research, some translucent brown models are definitely a faded onyx rather than a separate colour by itself. There is continuing debate regarding if all translucent brown scales are faded onyx! - See the link in the first comment at the bottom of the page for pictures and discussion.
YELLOW
Victorinox offers the following yellow shades: Yellow; Pale yellow; Citrine (translucent yellow); and Lemon yellow. The lemon yellow is a brighter, softer shade of yellow than the pale yellow which actually appears to have a hint of brown in it.
GREEN
The Green Group from Victorinox provides six shades: Pale green; Retro green; Hunter green; Emerald (translucent green); Sage and Forest green. Hunter is often referred to as simply green. It is a lighter colour green than Hunter, but still much darker than the pale green.
BLUE
The Blue Group shows five colours, and at least a bit of a naming controversy. The shades are: Dark blue (sapphire); Blue; Peacock blue; Sapphire (translucent blue); and Pale blue. Note that the dark blue (which is nearly black) is probably retired. It was used before the translucent scales were introduced and was referred to, on at least some packages, as sapphire. This is of course the name that Victorinox now uses for the translucent shade of blue.
PURPLE
Victorinox has three shades of the colour purple. The purples are distinctly darker than the pink group discussed below. The shades are: Plum purple; Pale purple; and Translucent purple. The plum purple is often referred to as simply purple.
PINK
The pink group has four shades. Note that these are generally brighter and lighter than the purples. The shades are: Raspberry sherbet; Pale pink; Hot pink; and Translucent pink.
MONOCHROME
The monochrome groups covers all the shades from white to black. They are: White; Gray; Onyx (translucent black); and Black. Not included in this group are the later SilverTech scales. This scale is a mix of translucent clear with some area filled in with silver, as there is a pattern to this knife it isn't technically a solid colour, though some may include it with this group.
Other colours
It should be noted that beyond the solid colours listed above, there are a number of other options, including Camouflage; Edelweiss flower patterns and colours; Tie-dye designs and colours; StayGlow scales that glow in the dark, and a number of Сarbon fibre; Natural wood and Horn scales.
Alox Colours
Initially the Victorinox Alox palette was smaller than than the Cellidor list, however in recent times this trend has been reversed. Alox models were initially only available in the following colours: Red; Green; Black; Blue; Light Blue; brown; Silver (natural colour); and copper.
In 2007 a Limited Edition set of colours was introduced for the 58mm Classic SD Alox featuring a Lime-Green; Autumn-Orange; Hot-Pink; and a Blue.
Since 2015 Victorinox releases an Annual Limited Edition set of three coloured Alox knives: A Pioneer, Cadet and Classic. Each year's limited edition comes in a different colour.
Standard Alox Colours
Blue, Silver, Red, Green and Black
Shades of Red in the Alox 84mm Range
Other Alox Colours:
Some of the many Alox colours that have been available (in the past).
In addition to colours available directly from Victorinox, certain dealers, from time to time, commission limited editions of specific colours.
Also see the top panel of this page for more information, and currently available colours.
Brown | Blue (dark shade of blue) | Light Blue |
Light Green | Olive Green | Aqua Green |
Orange | Gold |
58mm Colours Image Gallery
Click on the coloured box to visit the 58mm Colours Image Gallery
Wenger Colours
Cellidor (Plastic) Scale Colours
Wenger offered a rainbow of colour choices for various models, both in solid colours and translucent.
See the Wenger Esquire Page for a list of the many Wenger Esquire scale colours and materials.
Alox Colours
Wenger used red, black and blue colours for their Eloxy (Alox) SAKs. However some models also released in other colours.
Other Scale Options
There are a number of other Wenger models or series, including the Luxury Lithos series, which have highly polished, inlaid stone scales; the Macao Series, which have scales with an inlaid Chinese hand lacquer finish; and the Snife Series which have scales with unique custom designs.