Zurich designed and Jura made the new Swiza Swiss army knife was unveiled in Lausanne yesterday.

The product is the brain child of two Jura based entrepreneurs, Peter Hug and Florian Lachat. Peter, the CEO of the Helvetica Brands Group which makes the the knives, has a long track record in the watchmaking and cutlery industries. Working for Migros, Swatch Group and Wenger – a knife maker, Peter created the Wenger Watch brand before the company was bought by Victorinox in 2005.

Florian, who won the Swiss motor racing hill climbing championship in 2009, describes himself as a man of action. In addition to managing Helvetica Brands Group with Peter, he runs a novelty food start-up. According to the newspaper Le Temps, the two entrepreneurs invested CHF 9 million in the Delémont-based venture.

The first Swiss army knives date from 1891 when Karl Elsener, a maker of surgical equipment, first supplied them to the Swiss army. Elsener’s company later became Victorinox. Later, in 1893, a Swiss cutlery company called Paul Boéchat & Cie entered the market. This company became Wenger. Over 100 years later in 2005, Victorinox bought Wenger becoming the only maker of Swiss army knives. For the first time since 2005, Victorinox has a competitor: Swiza.

Swiss army knives are still used by the Swiss army, which ordered 75,000 units from Victorinox, for CHF 1.38 million, in 2008.

The Swiza knife was designed with help from the Zurich design agency Estragon. For the moment there are 16 models with a price tag of around CHF 37. The knife has up to eleven functions and is available in Bright Red, Husky Eye Blue, Snow White and Graphite Black. More versions in the pipeline. Technically, the Swiza knife is not a Swiss Army knife. The term “Swiss Army” is a registered trademark owned by Victorinox AG and its subsidiary, Wenger SA.

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