Allen Elishewitz
I was born in Texas where I have lived most of my life, but I also lived in Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore and Thailand. I have been interested in knives ever since I was very young. I have been practicing different martial arts over the past 30 years like Okinawan Te, Thai Boxing, Northern Shaolin and Kali. These trainings, along with my experiences as a Recon Marine, gave me the perfect background to design both defense and utility knives.
During the time I spent at 4th Recon C Company, I was a Team Leader in charge of a Deep Recon Platoon. I am trained in Artillery Call for Fire, Naval Call for Fire, SOTG, Amphibious Recon and many in-company trainings.
I have a Bachelor Degree in Criminal Justice and an Associate Degree in Fine Arts. I started making knives part time while I was in College and decided to become a full-time knifemaker after graduating. I have been making knives since 1988, constantly researching, refining and developing this craft.
I am a member of the American Knifemakers Guild since 1994. My work has been awarded several prizes: "Best Utility knife" at the 1992 Lone Star Knife Show in Dallas; "Beretta award" at the 1995 Guild Show; Fighting Knife Magazine's "Knifemaker of the Year" award in 1996; "Best High-tech Knife" award at the 2001 SICAC in Paris, France.
From an early age I was exposed and trained in various forms of art. Some of these art forms are: acid etching, printing, drawing, painting, architectural drafting, guilloche work and enameling. In 1985 I won the First Place at the Asian Art Fair in Singapore with a five-color printing. I was the first knifemaker to introduce the lost art of guilloche to the cutlery world.
After 4 years of research and study, in 2002 I began making watches. I make everything on my watches except the movement, crystal and hands. My goal is to eventually modify movements and construct my own hands.