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Open Memento Mori folding knife with a patterned Damasteel blade and engraved handle
Custom art knives · Bulgaria

Steel, stone and story — made once.

Ilio creates singular folding knives for private collectors. Each commission brings blade craft, gemstone, precious metal and hand engraving into one resolved object.

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Not a model. Not an edition. One resolved object, made once.

01The language of the work

Read from silhouette to the smallest line.

The whole piece is composed as one image: profile, mechanism, patterned steel, stone and engraving are considered together.

  1. 01

    Form

    A folding knife begins with proportion, balance and a silhouette that belongs only to that piece.

  2. 02

    Material

    Damasteel, titanium, gemstone, ivory and gold are selected for colour, pattern and the way they meet in the hand.

  3. 03

    Detail

    Hand engraving and inlay turn the surface into a narrative that rewards an intimate, close view.

02Selected works

Four knives. Four worlds in miniature.

A selection of completed, one-of-a-kind pieces. None is a model or a product line; each records a distinct private commission.

Open Memento Mori folding knife with a patterned Damasteel blade and engraved handle
2021

Memento Mori

A 200 mm folding art knife with a Damasteel blade, opalized coral, stainless steel and 24-karat gold. Tyanko Ivanov's hand engraving develops the memento mori theme across the handle.

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Open Damasteel and Tiger Eye folding knife with engraved handle
2021

Damasteel & Tiger Eye

A 220 mm folding knife with a Damasteel blade, tiger-eye gemstone scales and 14-karat-gold pins, presented in a ziricote box. The ornamental engraving is by Tyanko Ivanov.

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Open Titanium and Damasteel liner-lock knife with ivory scales
2022

Titanium & Damasteel

A 240 mm liner-lock folding knife combining a Bjorkman's Twist Damasteel blade and decorative elements with anodized titanium and ivory scales.

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Open Big Five flipper with Damasteel blade and wildlife bulino engraving
2022

Big Five

A flipper art knife created by Ilio in collaboration with engraver Tyanko Ivanov. Bulino scenes of the African Big Five unfold across both faces of the handle beside a patterned Damasteel blade.

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Explore the collection
The maker

Ilian Dimitrov, known as Ilio.

Ilio lives and works in Bulgaria. After many years of making knives, he continues to seek difficult materials and demanding forms — with a particular fascination for gemstone handles and precisely fitted details.

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Private commission

Your knife begins with a conversation.

Every Ilio knife is individually conceived and made. There are no catalogue prices: materials, engraving and scope are discussed personally for each commission.

Begin a commission