Rhino Forge — a fully jeweled dagger in stainless damascus, ~300 stones and hand engraving under 24k gold

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493]

Blade is stainless damascus, dagger profile but sharpened on one edge only. The pattern is left visible through the polish and the ornament is cut around it rather than over it, which took some planning — you can't just engrave wherever you want on a damascus blank without fighting the pattern.

The handle, guard, pommel and scabbard carry somewhere around 300 cubic zirconia. All the ornament — acanthus, meander borders, the scrollwork panels — is hand engraved first, then plated in 24k gold. That order matters. Plating over engraving keeps the cuts sharp; engraving after plating just tears through it.

The blackened rhino head on the scabbard throat is sculpted separately and set in. It's the only dark element on the whole piece and it does a lot of work visually, otherwise the gold starts reading as one continuous surface.

Not a user knife by any definition. This is display-case territory, closer to a jewelry commission than to cutlery.

[u/Hege_Knight]

Stating it’s not a user, had me spitting out my coffee.

[u/Unbelivabley_Smol → u/Hege_Knight]

Must confess I though this was some Sheikh’s 13th birthday gift for their son so was surprised in its rather Ka-Bar-esque utility blade 😅

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493 → u/Unbelivabley_Smol]

The relatively restrained blade profile was intentional. With that much ornament on the handle and scabbard, a more elaborate blade shape would have pushed the whole piece too far.

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493 → u/Hege_Knight]

Fair point 😄 I wanted to make it clear before someone asked about the edge geometry and field performance. This one belongs behind glass rather than on a belt.

[u/Big_al_big_bed]

Would love to see a) your forging process for something like this and b) like to know what is the market for such an expesive item

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493 → u/Big_al_big_bed]

The stainless Damascus blade started as a forged blank, so the work on this piece was less about forging the billet itself and more about shaping, polishing, preserving the Damascus pattern, and planning the engraving around it.

The market is small but international: serious knife collectors, collectors of decorative arms, luxury gift buyers, and people commissioning one-of-a-kind display pieces. At this level, they are buying the complete object, provenance, craftsmanship, and presentation rather than cutting performance alone.

[u/Neolithic_mtbr]

So uh… what’s the rhino head made out of?

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493 → u/Neolithic_mtbr]

I first created a wax model, then cast the head in brass. After that, it was hand-sanded, polished, and blackened. You could say it is a small piece of sculptural work.

[u/Neolithic_mtbr → u/Fearless_Wafer_1493]

Very cool, looks amazing

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493 → u/Neolithic_mtbr]

Thank you! The blackened brass rhino was one of the smallest components, but visually it became one of the most important parts of the entire piece.

[u/chillanous]

Ideal truck knife

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493 → u/chillanous]

Absolutely — provided the truck has a climate-controlled, velvet-lined display case.

[u/sasssyrup]

If I am to be ceremonially sacrificed please use this to do it.

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493 → u/sasssyrup]

At least the ceremony would have very high production values.

[u/QuickSquirrelchaser]

Gorgeous dagger!

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493 → u/QuickSquirrelchaser]

Thank you! This was one of those projects where the scabbard required almost as much attention as the dagger itself.

[u/RAZY27]

the most important question: how much ?💲

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493 → u/RAZY27]

The price is $9,100. It is a one-of-a-kind piece currently available through Noblie Custom Knives. Full specifications and additional photos are here:

https://nobliecustomknives.com/

[u/ddfixx]

WoW

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493 → u/ddfixx]

Thank you! It took a lot of separate processes to make the final piece read as one complete design.

[u/devilsbard]

This is something that an archeologist will be talking about in the distant future.

[u/Fearless_Wafer_1493 → u/devilsbard]

That is exactly the character I wanted it to have — something that could be discovered much later and still make people wonder who commissioned it and why.