First Production

Since 2023 the workshop has opened each new serial line with a First Production run before the standard serial knife follows. The knives are serial-tier, but the run is limited, the steel and finish are its own, and the factory says in each announcement that later issues may differ. Each is on the model catalog.

What First Production means

A First Production knife, FP for short, is the first serial issue of a new model. The factory describes the practice as a tradition: before a serial model is released, an FP version is shown first, in a limited run, and followed some months later by the serial knife. The FP fixes the dimensions and the construction of the line. The serial knife that comes after it keeps those and changes the blade steel, the handle finish and small details.

Three things set an FP apart from the serial knife. The blade steel is one more often seen on the Custom Division and the limited runs, where the serial knife is in M390. The handle finish is distinctive, a multi-stage anodizing or a pigmented carbon fiber, where the serial knife is plain gray titanium or plain carbon fiber. And the run is limited, where the serial knife is produced continuously. The blade length, the handle dimensions, the pivot and the lock are the same on both.

FP is not a Sprint Run and not a Custom Division run. A Sprint Run is a small, uncataloged batch that may precede the FP by a year or more and usually carries a Damascus or other unusual blade; the Custom Division runs of the same model are a tier above. The Astrum shows the whole sequence: a Sprint Run stamped 2023, the First Production in July 2024, the serial knife in November 2024, and Custom Division runs after that. The tier ladder places each of these.

The First Production runs

Stellar First Production, 2023

The Stellar FP was the workshop’s first serial knife with a 90 mm blade. Its liner lock carries the apron of the Custom Division models, the small lip on the lock bar that keeps dirt out of the gap between liner and handle. The blade is S90V, 3.5 mm thick, with a long false edge running into figured cutouts. The handle is titanium, flat in the center with two kinds of jimping around most of the perimeter, double anodized to a blue with a bronze cast, with weight-saving pockets inside. The clip on a hidden screw has a jimped curve where the fingers touch it; the titanium backspacer matches the clip in color, carries wide jimping and covers the blade tip when closed. The pivot is the MRBS with the CPS anti-rotation system and the larger pivot head of the latest serial generation. Handle 118 mm long and 12 mm thick, overall 210 mm, weight 123 g.

The serial Stellar of October 2023 kept every dimension, moved the blade to M390 in a stonewash finish, and changed the handle to plain gray titanium; the serial knife weighs 120 g. It was first sold at the ORELEXPO show. The full line is on the Stellar overview.

Astrum First Production, 2024

The Astrum FP was the first of the workshop’s own models in MagnaCut. The blade is 100 mm and 3.0 mm thick, with cutouts in the style of the Stellar’s that run into a false edge reaching almost to the tip, and jimping at the base of the spine that matches the flipper tab. The handle is titanium with a multi-stage anodizing that leaves the edges of the milled pattern looking worn; the spacer and clip are gray for contrast, so the anodized handle is framed by gray titanium and stonewashed steel. The pivot head is large and the handle rises around it. The liner lock has an apron with fine jimping on its inner face. The backspacer is suspended along its whole length, covers the blade tip and carries the lanyard hole. Handle 127.5 mm long and 11.5 mm thick, overall 228 mm, weight 107 g. The run was 100 pieces.

The serial Astrum of November 2024, first shown at the Arsenal show, kept the dimensions and the weight, changed the steel to M390, made the handle gray titanium with the spacer and clip to match, set the pattern at the rear of the handle slightly radial rather than parallel, and sharpened the edges of the backspacer notches. The full line is on the Astrum overview.

Stellar CF First Production, 2025

The Stellar CF FP is the carbon fiber Stellar. The scales follow the titanium Stellar’s shape and size, with wide chamfers at the front and concave cutouts on the spine and belly that show the layered material; for the FP the carbon fiber carries a purple pigment. The blade is MagnaCut at 63 to 64 HRC, 90 mm and thinned to 3 mm, which allowed a thinner backspacer and brought the knife to about 90 g, a quarter less than the titanium Stellar. The backspacer and clip are anodized in a blue and purple finish, the clip has a fine texture on its concave face and a hidden screw, and the lock plate is held by two screws, one under the clip. The liner is the core of the construction: both scales and the clip fasten to it, and the rear handle screw threads into it. Pivot MRBS on steel washers with CPS. Handle 118 mm long and 12.5 mm thick, overall 210 mm. The first batch was sold at the Arsenal show.

The serial Stellar CF of January 2026 kept the 90 mm, 3 mm blade and the 90 g weight, moved the steel to M390 in a tumbled finish, and changed the scales to plain carbon fiber with a uniform weave and the backspacer and clip to gray tumbled titanium with wide jimping on the spacer and a fine lengthwise texture on the clip. It went on sale on the factory site on 17 January 2026. The full line is on the Stellar overview.

For collectors

The FP is the opening run of its line and the first serial issue in its steel: S90V on the Stellar, MagnaCut on the Astrum, where the Sinkevich Touch set and the first Custom Division run share it, and MagnaCut on the Stellar CF. Listings name it as First Production or FP, and the glossary has the term. Later issues may differ, so the FP is also the reference for what changed on the serial knife. An FP is authenticated like any serial knife, by the box and certificate; the authentication guide covers the checks.