Not a wedding knife after all

Remember the Sonneville knife that was featured in European Blades Mag. 16? It was engraved “Nettie & Frans 1978” and I assumed that this meant the knife was made to commemorate a wedding, perhaps to cut the cake. As it turns out, this assumption, like so many others, was false.
 
Text: Jasper Renz; pictures Bas Martens
 

After they’d read the article on Sonneville knives in European Blades Mag., I was contacted by the Sonneville family and they told me the true story behind this knife. Frans was one of Bill Sonneville’s two brothers. Nettie was his wife. Bill Sonneville made the knife as a gift for them to commemorate a family reunion in the Netherlands that took place in 1978. As it turned out, this was the last time they got together. So although the knife was not for a wedding, it was made to commemorate a very special occasion and it was made for people that were very special to the maker. The Sonneville’s name is engraved on the sheath and links the maker to the recipient forever.
In closing, don’t assume too quickly but do share and reach out. It is amazing to see what an article in an on-line magazine such as European Blades Mag. can lead to.
 

commemorate the family reunion in 1978.