My vote is for the Harpy in SS. This knife has the same hawkbill blade wickedness look as the Civilian/Matriarch but a better balanced appearance, IMHO, and looks are the thing we are voting about right?
The Starmate gets my vote as the prettiest Spyderco knife.
While the G-10 handle material may not be able to compete with some more colorful or highly buffed materials, the lines of the blade and overall knife more than make up that minor shortcoming.
Further, the G-10's strength and lightness and to the functional design of the knife.
I will agree that while niether the Civilian nor the Spyderench look good they have beauty of their own.
1st - Bob Lum Chinese Folder
2nd - Bob Terzuola Starmate
3rd - Howard Viele C42
In my opinion the most beautiful Spyderco knives in the order above and I am pleased to own one of each.
Oh buddy!! THE sleekest, smoothest most elegant knife by far is the large micarta plain blade calypso.
Without climbing back on my soapbox this knife has it all for elegance. The next would be the chinese
followed by the SS police and then the military. Oddly enough these four represent four very diverse
design goals with all four being a success for their intended purpose.
Although the PE-SS-Delica is **** fine looking blade and will be my EDC for some time to come (mainly for size), I would have to say that the PE-SS-Police has just a touch more class.
Whoa, wait a minute! To properly conduct a beauty contest certain categories must first be setup. For example, "Sexiest," "Most Elegant," "Most Ruggedly Handsome," etc. Also, shouldn't there be size classes? (i.e., large, medium, small, and tiny. <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>
While, if we are giving character to them
=;-{)>
Sexiest: Civ(CF)
Best Fit: full sized Wegner
Rugged: Chinook
Sleek: Calypso(micarta)
Dressiest: Dragonfly(SS)
Cutest: Mouse
We all start with 10 fingers. Those with Spydies have 9 to spare, Still need a thumb. Good thing I still have 8 to spare...
I think it's only fair to have separate catagories for custom collaborations and in-house designs:
Collabotarions: Close between the Viele and the Lum Chinese Folder with the Lum winning by a whisker.
In-house: I would have said the micarta Calypso Jr until a week ago when I got my carbon fibre Dragonfly, but the latter now gets my vote. The Dragonfly design is extremely elegant and the CF is just the finishing touch needed to make it exceptional.
Clay
Don't worry that the world might end tomorrow, in Australia it's tomorrow already.
my vote for beutifully designed would be the bob lum chineese folder with the bob lum tanto titinum and a titium wegner bieng my seconds but i have never seen the autum folder in person but on the screen it looks very beutifully designed.
I don't own one, but I think the calypso Jr. is a very nice looking knife. But my number one vote goes to my cricket, for not looking like all the other knives I see. <img src="smile.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle>