#TBT Going Wild With A Sicura Safari Victorinox Knife Watch
Even though it feels like wearing a bar of chocolate on your wrist, the Sicura Safari knife watch is a pure wonder. It had been a long time since I put it on my wish list, and I finally got one. I really thought it would be much easier to find it…
I was wrong. The Sicura Safari knife watch pops quite rarely. It’s one of the watches that I tried to actively search for through multiple auction sites for years, but not a single listing showed up. I kept bugging one of my watch penfriends to let his Sicura Safari go, but he successfully resisted my annoying demands.
Landing a Sicura Safari
In the middle of November last year, Rainer, another one of my watch penfriends, sent me an Instagram link and asked if I saw the Sicura with a knife that Levan, the Austrian watchmaker from Vienna, found in a case. Rainer had no clue that I was trying to hunt one down. And I could not believe that a Sicura Safari had resurfaced right next door and I’d missed it. By the time I reached out to Levan, the watch was already sold. Rainer traced it to a dealer from the UK. My jaw dropped when I heard it had sold for over €2,000. I found it surprisingly high considering that the re-chromed case had lost its original character.
Not giving up
The next day, I did what I usually do. I ran “Sicura Safari” through an Instagram search to see who had posted anything about the watch. This brought me to another guy who owns three of them. I thought he might be willing to let one go. He eventually could, but I didn’t like his manners, so I stepped back. Luckily, I found another one listed with an Italian dealer. Since it was in pretty good condition, I pulled the trigger, and here we are.
First impressions of the Sicura Safari
The Sicura Safari looks comfy, but it’s not. Well, it may feel tiny for those with Arnie-sized wrists, but the size may surprise you if you regularly wear 36–38mm vintage chronographs or divers. And how about that shape? It had been years since I studied it in pictures, but that didn’t prepare me for my first encounter with the watch in the metal — a lot of metal. It’s actually just a big piece of steel. Forget any curves, beveled edges, the harmony of thin and thick parts, and the poetry of shapes. It’s a brick. A heavy and slightly cumbersome metal brick. Forget trying to slip this watch under a cuff. The Sicura Safari will demolish it in the process.
Unwearable
I am looking at my Sicura Safari right now, and I am still speechless. The bezel, crystal, and lugs are almost flat. I don’t know if I can even call them “lugs.” There is just about a 2mm bite into each end of the massive case. Ultimately, they look like a bad parody of lugs. On top of that, the Sicura Safari is long and always sticks out from my wrist. It’s so heavy that you can also see how it struggles with gravity at each tiniest twist of the hand. Does it sound to you like I have been constantly complaining about Sicura Safari up to this point? Well, that’s true. But at the same time, I love it too.
Blade Runner
You don’t need to guess twice why I love it so much — a knife blade is implemented into the case! That would explain the watch’s “no-lugs policy.” If you wear your watches on your left hand, on the inner side of the case, closer to your heart, there is a folding Victorinox blade.
Purchase tip
One of the more educated Sicura Safari owners educated me about blades a bit more. If you look closer at the inner side of the blade, there should be a Victoria logo stamped on it. If you do not see it there, the blade was probably replaced by a modern version. Honestly, it wouldn’t even cross my mind to check that, but I was thankful for the advice, and I used it when buying mine.
A bit of background
As explained here, Sicura had a full lineup of flashy watches. Quartz watches were demolishing mechanical watches big time, so Ernest Schneider, Sicura’s CEO, didn’t give much attention (or money) to the quality of the movements in his watches. Pin-lever movements were almost standard because Schneider focused primarily on cases and dial designs.
Searching for original ads
We can find dozens of epic designs. I would even call them marketing stunts to attract potential buyers, just to keep them from going quartz. If you imagine the burden under which Schneider was operating, his attitude to go against the quartz stream was truly admirable. What surprised me, though, was the fact that I failed to find any leaflets, manuals, or even print ads presenting the watch. I even reached out to collectors who specialize in watch ads, but I had no success whatsoever. Please, if you have any marketing materials from the era when the Sicura Safari came out, I would be thankful if you shared them with us.
Find your style
What we know for sure is that there were multiple dial variations available. You can choose from an orange, blue, or green dial combined with a dark gray or silver central ring. And there even were MG-branded dials available. But I’d suggest not being picky when it comes to the color and catching whatever example comes your way. What I would be picky about, however, is the case. These were chromed, so you don’t want one that was beaten too much. The two screws holding the blade are often quite worn or possibly replacements. If you find a watch with original screws and their heads untouched by a screwdriver, you can pat yourself on the back.
Last thoughts
The front-loaded Sicura Safari does not house a horological marvel of a movement, but the integrated blade makes it a real stunner. I haven’t tested how useful it is when cutting bacon on my trips to the woods, but you have to admit the knife integration isn’t that bad at all. Just compare it to a display light on my Orient Toyota Puma. I do not expect the Sicura Safari to become my favorite Swiss knife, but in case of an emergency, it may become a vital item.
My Sicura Safari even made it to a formal business meeting in a fancy conference room at a big corporation yesterday. I guess 99.9% of attendees would have never guessed that there was a knife on me. Happy hunting!
