🚀 Victorinox Master Craftsman "Astronaut"

January 20, 2026

The first five-layer Flagship Officer Knife

Introduction

The Victorinox Master Craftsman holds a singular place in the history of the 91 mm Officer Knife range.
Introduced in the early 1950s, it becomes the first true five-layer flagship model, conceived to demonstrate Victorinox’s highest level of technical ambition within the traditional Officer format.

Its history reaches a defining moment in 1978, when Victorinox supplies Master Craftsman knives under a contract—the moment when this knife quite literally leaves Earth.
After decades at the top of the range, the model quietly disappears from catalogues in the 1990s.

I. Technical overview — A flagship toolset

Master Craftsman 1978-1983: the version produced at the time of NASA contract 🚀

Core configuration (Master Craftsman)

Closed length: 91 mm
Category: Officer Knife
Architecture: five main tool layers

Main tools (by functional groups)

Large blade and small blade
Wood saw
Metal file with metal saw
Scissors
Openers (can opener and bottle opener with screwdriver and wire stripper)

Back tools — chronological evolution

Early 1950s
- Reamer / awl
- Phillips screwdriver with metal file (introduced 1952)
1960s–1970s
- Progressive adoption of the flat screwdriver
1985
- Chisel
1991
- Multipurpose hook

Toothpick and tweezers

Tweezers become an option from 1957, following their adoption across the Officer range

Model references

Old Victorinox reference: 136m
Known variants include 136ma, 136mU, and 136maU
Modern Victorinox reference: 1.6794 (discontinued)

II. Historical evolution — Origins, peak, and legacy

1. Origins — Why “Master Craftsman” (early 1950s)

1954 Catalogue

The name Master Craftsman is not marketing language—it is descriptive.

In the early 1950s, Victorinox already offers an 84 mm model known as the Craftsman, which corresponds to what collectors later call the Huntsman Small.
This smaller knife combines blades, openers, scissors, and wood saw.

The Master Craftsman appears as its larger counterpart:

same functional philosophy
expanded to 91 mm
and crucially, enhanced with a metal file

At the time, adding a metal file represents a significant step toward workshop-grade capability.
The Master Craftsman is therefore quite literally the “master” version of the Craftsman: bigger, more capable, and positioned above it in the range.

2. Options and flexibility — Corkscrew, Phillips, and identity

In the early 1950s, corkscrew and Phillips screwdriver are not yet fixed identities, but options.

As a result:

the Master Craftsman exists with corkscrew or Phillips
the underlying five-layer structure remains the same

Master Craftsman 136maU 1957-1959

Master Craftsman 236maU 1957 (Ranger)

This is essential to understanding the model’s evolution:
what later becomes distinct model names are, at this stage, variants of a single flagship concept.

In this context, the Master Craftsman also encompasses what will later be formalized as the Ranger.

3. Flagship stability (1960s–1970s)

Master Craftsman 136mU 1966-1968 without toothpick & tweezers

Master Craftsman 136mU 1966-1968 with toothpick & tweezers

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the Master Craftsman remains a stable flagship.

Its role is clear:

maximum functional density
no redundancy
a reference model for skilled users and professionals

Master Craftsman 134maU 1971-1973

This long stability reinforces its identity as a cornerstone of the Officer range.

4. 1978 — NASA contract and the Astronaut metal inlay

In 1978, Victorinox supplies Master Craftsman knives under a NASA contract, a unique moment in Swiss Army Knife history.

The appearance of the Astronaut metal inlay in 1983 must be understood as:

a usage-driven identifier
marking a knife selected for spaceflight
associating the flagship Officer Knife with precision engineering at the highest level

This is not a decorative flourish, but a symbolic apex.

5. Quiet disappearance (1990s)

Master Craftsman 1990's

During the 1990s, the Master Craftsman quietly disappears from catalogues.

There is no formal replacement announcement.
Instead, the flagship philosophy it embodied is absorbed and redistributed across the range.

Collector perspective and significance

Why the Master Craftsman matters

The Master Craftsman is significant because it is:

the first five-layer flagship Officer Knife
the expanded evolution of the 84 mm Craftsman
the platform from which later structural identities emerge
the only Officer Knife associated with a NASA spaceflight context

Collector interest

Early 236m examples
Transitional back-tool configurations
Astronaut metal inlay versions (1983)
Complete examples reflecting original top-of-range positioning

Position within the 91 mm range

The Master Craftsman sits at the origin of a lineage that includes:

Conclusion — A flagship that never truly disappeared

The Victorinox Master Craftsman was never merely a model—it was a concept.

Introduced in the early 1950s as the enlarged, file-equipped evolution of the Craftsman, it defined what a top-of-the-range Officer Knife could be. Its association with NASA in 1978 marks a historic summit, when this flagship quite literally left Earth.

Though the Master Craftsman name fades in the 1990s, the knife itself does not vanish.
It survives through its twin from the origins: the Ranger, which carries the same core structure and remains in production today.

In that sense, the Master Craftsman did not disappear—it endured, quietly, as one of the most important foundations of the modern Victorinox range.

This article is part of the SAKnife Archives, an independent collector-driven project dedicated to documenting Victorinox Swiss Army Knives. All photographs shown come from the SAKnife private collection unless otherwise noted. The historical and technical information presented here is based on existing data shared by recognized collector communities, forums, and expert collector databases. Additional period examples and variants will be added over time as the archive continues to grow.

Identify every Victorinox 91 mm configuration using the structural identification tree:
👉 🔎 Victorinox 91mm Identification Tree – Identify Your Swiss Army Knife by Toolset

Identify the production period of your Swiss Army Knife using the interactive visual tool based on tang stamps and tool evolution:
👉 ⌛ Swiss Army Knife Production Period Guide – Victorinox Interactive Tool Evolution

Explore the evolution of Victorinox 91 mm Swiss Army Knives and discover related model sheets in the historical timeline:
👉 📘 Swiss Army Knife History & 91 mm Model Evolution