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This Stunning Cinderella EDC Knife Is Now Much More Affordable

Artisan Cutlery’s Kickstarter-crushing Wizard Series welcomes a wallet-friendlier new member that retains the good looks and super steel.

Close-up of a folding knife with a partially serrated stainless steel blade and a textured, copper-colored handle. The knife is shown in a partially open position against a blurred green and brown background.Artisan Cutlery

By Steve Mazzucchi

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When upstart designer Dustin Rhodes teamed up with Artisan Cutlery on a crowd-funded collection of knives last year, the vision was dreamy but the goal was modest: $3,000.

Dubbed the Wizard Series, it consisted of four progressively more premium button-lock front flippers with an impressive blade-to-handle ratio and luxe materials.

A hand wearing a green fingerless glove is holding an open folding knife with a silver blade and a textured bronze handle. The background is blurred with green and brown tones.
Deployed, the knife measures 7.64 inches, with an impressive 3.47 inches being blade.
Artisan Cutlery

In a bit of folk tale-worthy magic, the project skyrocketed to nearly 500 times its goal, topping out at $147,347 and ensuring these beauties would actually come to life.

That said, although the pricing was stratified, even the cheapest variant was a bit rich for my blood at $214. 

So I’m stoked that Artisan Cutlery recently introduced a much more affordable edition that still boasts dazzling looks and a super steel blade. Meet the $140 Wizard ATZ-1870G.

Handling with care

So how exactly did AC shave $74 off the hitherto cheapest knife in a collection that also features, no joke, a $749 edition. 

Considering the latest entry retains the same compelling design and blade steel of some of its brethren (more on that later), the most notable substitution here is the handle.

Folding pocket knife with a copper-colored textured handle and a partially visible stainless steel blade featuring a serrated edge. The handle has a black clip attached with screws.
The copper handle boasts its own compelling aesthetic. The tip-up pocket clip is not reversible.
Artisan Cutlery

Whereas its predecessors deal in such ingredients as carbon fiber and titanium Damascus, the new kid’s throwing copper.

That’s not such a bad thing, as it still looks great and offers something the others don’t — crisscross texturing that should improve grip. 

Assuming you dig the aesthetics, the big tradeoff is the weight. While the heaviest of the first four weighed 3.34 ounces, the ATZ-1870G one tips the scales at a hefty 4.83.

A folding knife with a copper-colored textured handle and a partially open stainless steel blade, standing upright on a rough wooden surface with a blurred natural background.
Considering the eye-popping tip-to-tail looks and high functionality, the only thing blah about this knife is the name.
Artisan Cutlery

I guess one other place AC may have saved some money was not expending any creative resources on the name, which admittedly pales in comparison to the originals: Sorcerer, Mage, MagnaMage and Enchanter.

But hey, once it’s in your hand, you can call it whatever you want.

Staying super

As referenced earlier, when it comes to EDC, what’s more important than what is lost is what is retained. 

That’s where the new knife really shines. Yes, the super-expensive Enchanter has a MagnaCut blade, but the other three originals are S90V, just like the ATZ-1870G.

Folding knife with a polished silver blade and a copper-colored handle featuring a textured grip and a black pocket clip. The blade has a thumb stud for easy opening and a small logo near the base.
Look close at the off side and along with Rhodes’s logo and the model number, you will see type of blade steel printed.
Artisan Cutlery

And it should be stated that this super steel is no slouch. Thanks to a vanadium, chromium and carbon-rich blend, S90V boasts wear and corrosion resistance superior to S30V and S60V, not to mention excellent edge retention.  

The ATZ-1870G’s drop-point silhouette is just as oversized, too, coming in at a whopping 3.47 inches on a body with a closed length of just 4.17 inches.

Slim folding knife with a copper-colored handle and a thin, pointed stainless steel blade. The handle features a black pocket clip and a textured thumb stud for opening. The knife is shown from the side with the blade fully extended.
Seen here from a crazy top-down perspective, the thumb studs and ridged front flipper make for two designated deployment mechanisms, with the button lock adding a third.
Artisan Cutlery

Lastly, it features multiple deployment mechanisms: thumb studs and front flipper, plus a de facto third in the form of the button lock, which makes one-handed closing of the knife just as dreamily easy as releasing it is. 

The Artisan Cutlery Wizard ATZ-1870G is available now for $140. While most of the original Wizard Series is sold out, the aforementioned Sorcerer is available for $214.

About the Author:

Now managing editor, Steve has served in a variety of roles with GP since 2019. Having previously written and edited for such publications as Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Esquire and ESPN, he enjoys covering a range of topics — but mostly those pertaining to cycling, snow sports, pocket knives and motos — and dreams of a utopian world in which everyone’s bike seat is at the proper height.

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