Crusader Trading Pty Ltd - About the Company and our Trading Terms
Welcome to the Crusader Trading Pty Ltd
Web Site. We are certain that this site contains any number of
ceremonial items that will be of interest to you.
We have been providing the Australian market with what we consider to be some of the finest
quality ceremonial products available on the world market since
1998.
STOCK:
We try to keep the swords and accessories in stock, however if it is out
of stock at time of ordering, it may take up to 3 months for a
particular item to be manufactured and arrive.
Any merchandise offered as a 'special' will be held in stock, but
limited to the number of items indicated. So - 'First in, best
dressed'.
ORDERING PROCEDURE:
Please send an email containing the items you are ordering and your
contact details.
We will be in touch ASAP to provide the relevant details.
Upon receipt of your order the product (dependant on availability)
will be delivered in 7 to 21 days.
Please supply as many contact details as possible with your order so
we can contact you if there is any delay / out of stock / or
confusion etc!
PAYMENT OF ORDER:
Payment by Bank Transfer only.
If your order includes two or more items and subsequently only one
item is available at that time, the rest of the order will be held
until it is complete. Unless you specifically request that you want
partly completed orders forwarded. This may incur further postage
charges.
Some items require a deposit or full payment in advance. We will
inform you of this requirement when we contact you.
At all times we will keep you informed of the current status of
your order and account.
PRICING:
All prices listed are in Australian Dollars.
All prices are subject to suppliers & our price changes. In the
case of overseas merchandise they are subject to variations in the
exchange rate and freight charges/surcharges.
We reserve the right to pass on such changes if or
when this happens.
POSTAGE AND PACKAGING:
The correct postage and packaging costs will be added to any order
shipped. All items are sent via Australia Post Registered and
Insured mail.
If you want postage and packaging quote please e-mail us at
shop@ceremonialshop.com.au and we will calculate the
current rate for you.
Urgent orders requiring Express Delivery will incur a higher
postage cost - please email for quote.
Our responsibility for items dispatched through Australia Post ends
with lodgement at the Post Office all shipment include a tracking
number.
The History of
Tradition since 1573
1560
The history
of the company Weyersberg, Kirschbaum & Cie (W.K.C.) in Solingen
began in the early middle-ages, when the trademark 'Kingshead' was
registered by the bladesmith Johannes Wundes in 1560. This trademark
is one of the oldest registered and is still in use today.
1573
In the 16th
century, the forging technique in Solingen was already quite
advanced in its development and Wilhelm Weyersberg, the ancestor of
one of the WKC founders, became mayor of the city of Solingen.
During this period, the so called ‘Solingen method’ was invented,
which in effect was a division of labour between the ‘gilds’
(organized groups) in town. Each gild specialized in one part of the
sword making production process, e.g. the forging of blades,
grinding or hardening. Each process was strictly separated and
executed by different persons- no person performed more than one
job.
These persons specialized in their fields and became experts which
then led to an extraordinary high level of blade and sword quality.
Their knowledge was passed down from generation to generation and
not shared with anyone outside of their particular gild. The only
way to join one of these gilds was to be recommended by one of the
current members and these positions were mainly filled by family
members who were deemed to be trustworthy.
The quality of the blades became so famous worldwide, that the name
‘Solingen’ was soon a trademark and stood for quality.
1850
The era of
industrialization in Solingen was an important time for the
Weyersberg familiy. They became the most important factor of
production and marketing of blades in town. One reason for the
success was the invention of a roll-forge for blades which Mr. Fritz
Weyersberg saw in England. He then purchased the patent and the
forge was introduced to and implemented in Solingen. With this
machine, which still exists today at WKC, he was able to forge
multiple blades in a short space in time.
1854
During this
era, another family was also acquired growing influence in Solingen
- the Kirschbaum´s. They had dedicated themselves to the marketing
of Solingen products, focusing on blades for swords and knives. They
registered the second trademark of WKC - the knights-helmet.
1883
The two
companies Weyersberg and Kirschbaum joined forces in 1883 and
founded Weyersberg, Kirschbaum und Cie. (W.K.C.). Both trademarks
were joined and formed the trademark that is still in use today.
WKC developed quickly to be the strongest company in Solingen, with
more than 1200 workers and an excellent reputation for various
quality products made of steel – from cutlery to bicycles to swords.
Even parts for the automobile industry were later produced at the
company. Even this early, WKC exported worldwide, from Argentina in
South America to Japan. It is not a coincidence, that the first 2
telephone numbers in Solingen, No. 1 and No. 2 were the connections
to WKC. So when the German Ministry of Defense called – they would
say to the operator: “Solingen 1” and reach WKC´s office.
Using the strengths of the company, WKC developed into the world
market leader for ceremonial swords, edged weapons and military
bayonets. In the late 19th century they produced more than 100,000
blades annually and also delivered to other sword producers, e.g.
Wilkinson Sword in England, which was formed with the help of Mr.
Kirschbaum, the then proprietor of WKC. Many edged weapons of this
era are currently found in museums worldwide. Look out for the
helmet and the knight’s head on the blade ricasso when you visit a
museum. Possibly, your grandfather’s sword is a WKC.
1922
In the year
1922 WKC was sold to one of their suppliers, the Siegen-Solingen
Gußstahlverein, a public company. With the great depression in 1929
though, this company went out of business, leaving the brand WKC
abandoned for some time. Before 1933, the company WKC was
re-established on a smaller scale and continued with the production
of military swords. With a rising demand at this time, WKC became
the main supplier of edged weapons to the German Army, and also
exported worldwide.
1955 The later history of WKC began in 1995. Hans Kolping who was successful entrepreneur in Solingen, producing pocketknives for the American market, e.g. fishermen’s knives and household cutlery, bought the premises of WKC along with the name and trademarks. The company he purchased it from was a steel supplier of Düsseldorf and had been producing guns and pistons at WKC since the end of the war.
Hans Kolping ceased the production of guns and started manufacturing ceremonial swords again – which was since 1883 the usual core business of WKC. He installed a blade-etching department (Damasziererei) and ordered the refurbishment of the blade forge. In March 1955, the first swords were delivered to Korschenbroich, a small town close to Solingen. Big orders arrived when Mr. Kolping started travelling by sea to the USA. The US Navy and the Marine Corps liked the WKC´s quality products so much that they awarded the company with such huge orders, that Mr. Kolping could hardly fulfil the requirements. More workers had to be employed and quickly the workforce rose to 50. Apart from swords, the product portfolio was expanded to include uniform accessories.
1989 In 1989 Mr. Kolping died and left his wife Ms. Margard Willms to succeed him at the company. When she took over WKC she was already 70 years old. This transition was quite an easy one as Ms. Willms had been working with Mr. Kolping from day 1 and during her lifetime probably cleaned and packed 400,000 swords herself. She along with her step-son Mr. Joachim Willms invested in the refurbishment of the old 19th century factory building and introduced a new state-of-the-art plating department. A few years after this, Ms. Willms retired and left and the management of the company to Mr. Joachim Willms.
1995–2015 In 1995, at the age of 24, Mr. André Willms, son of Joachim Willms took the company over. Having not had a functioning sales team since Mr. Kolping deceased, WKC lacked big international customers and orders. He made it his first point of action to re-activate the customer base and make visits worldwide in order to reintroduce WKC to it’s previous customers as well as to win new ones. After more than 20 years of hard work with growing Asian competition, WKC is now the leading manufacturer of quality edged weapons worldwide with customers in more than 80 countries. More than 600 different types of ceremonial swords are manufactured mainly manually by skilled craftsmen like Schwertfeger, Damaszierer, Handschleifer and others. Apart of ceremonial military swords, WKC supplies a wide range of uniform accesories as well as collectibles, miniature swords and Japanese swords. WKC was the first company in the industry to be certified according to DIN ISO 9002. Upon the closure of the Wilkinson Sword factory in England in 2005 WKC bought most of the machines, tools and parts that were for sale.
Today WKC produces more than 25,000 edged weapons a year to ministries, academies, schools as well as to private persons, collectors and historical clubs. We are proud to have produced various swords for Royals and their Palaces.
Our mission is to keep WKC and the sword industry alive. This includes the very traditional way of manufacturing. We strive for excellent products and satisfied customers in order to maintain jobs for generations to come. In a quickly changing world of the Internet and Clouds, it seems to be more and more important to produce something that lasts for centuries. In doing so, we are dependant on you, our customers to whom we have been devoted since the middle ages.
