• Reuters, Thursday, January 10, 2008 11:46 AM

Victorinox--one of the makers of knives supplied to Swiss soldiers--has been fighting back from near obsolescence with a range of new products including luggage, kitchen knives, clothing and watches. Each is each emblazoned with the firm's logo--a white cross within a red crest. There is even a perfume, which reviewers have described as "woodsy" in scent.

"At the moment this 'Swiss-made' brand is particularly cool," says Landesbanki Kepler analyst Jon Cox. He says a belief in Swiss quality--the kind of thorough workmanship that is also a characteristic of Swiss watch-making--has become a key asset for micro-engineering companies like penknife and gadget makers.

But in the wake of September 11, 2001, when airlines banned knives on board, sales of the knives--which were often purchased as a souvenir at airport stores--fell by around one-third, says Carl Elsener IV, who runs the company with his 85-year-old father, Carl Elsener III. A self-confessed perfectionist, Elsener III still cycles to work at the firm's plant in the small community of Ibach, where he attributes the company's strength to its attention to detail.

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