WNDSN Applied Sciences Lab is pleased to announce the release of a collaboration with French knife maker Fred Perrin, an OSS-inspired coin knife based on the heavy metal WNDSN eclipse challenge coin.
The front side of the coin shows the WNDSN metrology motto: “ex mensura, scientia” or “knowledge from measurement” and a graphical representation of a lunar eclipse that utilizes the old alchemical symbol for verdigris and, later, the astronomical symbol for the Earth. On the back side — on top of four graphical quadrants featuring a shadow square, standing for solving problems of space, a set of equal hour lines, standing for determining time, and the sine quadrant as the most elegant of mathematical instruments — Fred installs the blade, perfectly keeping with the lines, and, in its closed state, perfectly flush with the coin surface itself.
The famous Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a wartime intelligence agency of the United States during World War II. The OSS Research & Development produced its own line of novel spy tools and gadgets, including compasses hidden in uniform buttons, playing cards that concealed maps, a diverse selection of lapel and otherwise concealable knives as well as coins (in the denomination of the respective country of operations) with integrated blades for escape purposes.
Based in the city of tradecraft, and heavily influenced by the atmosphere and climate of the cold war, WNDSN’s roots are inseparably connected to the divided city of Berlin and its flair of competing interests from all over the world.
Enter Fred Perrin, famous French knife maker and covert weapons designer, well known for his legendary LaGriffe (the claw) design, a small, concealable knife with a ring right behind the blade for retention and control. Fred is a former French Army Commando and a world-ranked martial artist.
Fred has a sizeable portfolio of covert tools made in the spirit of the OSS and its siblings in other countries, among which happens to be a version of the (in)famous “escape coin”. Now, many makers are making these coins, but Fred is the only one who’s integrating a thumb stud as his signature take on that by now almost a century old design.
The blade is made from 1095 carbon steel, the coin and hardware, thumb stud, pivot, and stopper pin choice is between raw copper or brass — either of which will patina beautifully.
Available directly from Fred Perrin.