Salvatore Puddu: Born 1961 in Quartu S. Elena, next to Cagliari, Sardinia Island, Italy, Salvatore Puddu was a Bridgestone’s precision mechanic by trade before he became a full-time knife maker in 2000. Recognized early for his Three-blade lock-back folder at the Milan Knife Show, today he is President of the Italian Guild and member of the German Knifemaker’s Guild.

Puddu knives are produced strictly one at a time so that maximum attention can be focused on perfection from beginning to end during the construction process.  And although it adds to an already lengthy delivery time, Salvatore’s knives are made entirely by him from start to finish.

Needless to say every part of a Puddu knife is designed and crafted with special purpose and function in mind, no matter how small, and every knife may be completely dismantled should adjustment or cleaning ever be needed.

In fact Salvatore loves his pointy creations so much that each knife is made with slightly different details and is also in some way more complicated than the last. This keeps the creative fires burning brightly and helps avoid the boredom which can sometimes stifle the creative process over time.

Salvatore enjoys the challenge of building multi-blade knives best, and because they take so much time to create, his production is limited to between 15 and 20 knives per year maximum. So it is no wonder that delivery time is now measured in years!

He is also among the few makers in the world building lock-back multi-blades, and is the only maker we know of who is building two blade lock-backs that open from opposites sides of the frame – a major technical and aesthetic challenge.

This particular model is called the Chris-Cross folder.

Part of the magic is that when the blades are closed they are completely hidden by the frame where they touch nothing at all internally! This requires extraordinary tolerances, lengthy assembly time and the patience of a saint!

Frequently Puddu knives are adorned by the engraving of some of the world’s finest artists – engraving which must complete and harmonize with each knife so that the aesthetic whole is in the end greater than the sum of the parts.

And finally, as with some of his great American predecessors, whose art and philosophy he admires, Salvatore’s work personifies the union between the great artists and craftsman who are always searching for new technical and aesthetic challenges that will help push the boundaries of their art.

This philosophy, and more importantly, the knives themselves, are why Salvatore Puddu is one of the finest master knife making artisans in the world today.

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