BRINGING BACK THE KUTRITE

A SHORT HISTORY

The Kutrite pattern of flat kitchen scissors was designed by Philip Wright in the 1960s, in homage to the iconic Turton kitchen scissors. It had disappeared from the collection by the end of the last century, and the original drawings, die and tooling were lost over the years.

In 2016, a Kickstarter campaign to reintroduce the Kutrite design was launched by former Ernest Wright owner, Nick Wright. Many scissor enthusiasts around the world – including our current owners – backed the idea, and the project was started. Unfortunately, after many setbacks and the sad passing of Nick Wright, Ernest Wright and Sons Ltd. went into receivership. It was the end of the Kickstarter campaign.

Two enthusiastic backers heard about the ‘closure of Ernest Wright’. Having resolved to preserve the art of making scissors and shears by hand, and to save this great name in the trade, they travelled to Sheffield to buy the assets of Ernest Wright and re-open its workshop.

BRINGING BACK THE KUTRITE

Saving a 118-year-old company like Ernest Wright means restoring old processes and laying foundations for the future.

Our challenge is to capture the essence of a traditional family company, while equipping that company for the modern world. This means maintaining a healthy workforce, high quality materials, functioning machines and a safe and pleasant working environment.

Over the last year, we have been looking for opportunities to bring back the Kutrite, as this was the scissor that caught our attention when the original Kickstarter campaign was introduced. Now, a breakthrough is near.

Ernest Wright has teamed up with a tool and die specialist who shares our vision: to recreate the old model as true to the original design as possible, whilst adapting the materials to our current high standards of production.

We reached this point by reverse-engineering the original late 60s Kutrite scissors, to make drawings for the die and tooling so we can hot drop-forge new blanks. The only alteration to the original pattern is a change to the bottle opener on the scissors, which has been updated so it can function with contemporary bottles.

WE WANT TO KNOW YOUR OPINION

We are very enthusiastic about bringing the Kutrite pattern back into production. However, adding the model to our renewed collection would require heavy investment in the development of new dies and tooling.

Before we take the plunge, we want to know if there’s sufficient demand for the scissor. If enough people take an interest, we will execute our plan. The Kutrite blanks will be in our workshop mid-2020, and the scissors will be available Q3 2020.

Are you interested in purchasing a Kutrite kitchen scissor? Please let us know! Fill in the form to subscribe to our Kutrite newsletter. There is no obligation to buy or requirement to pay upfront. We just want to gauge whether it would be worthwhile for us to invest in this project.

If you are a former Kickstarter backer, there will be a discounted price on the Kutrite, as well as a limited-edition wooden case as a reminder of how grateful we are for your patience and support.

The Kutrite Kickstarter campaign was run by the previous owners of Ernest Wright, and while we greatly sympathise with our fellow scissor lovers who backed that campaign, we cannot take on the ‘debt’ that was incurred when the old company went under, as this would make Ernest Wright’s survival financially impossible. We can only look forward and work to prevent the art of making scissors by hand from disappearing, and we profoundly appreciate our community’s support in helping us do so.

Pricing:

Regular price GBP 110.00*
incl. special wooden box signed by both Cliff and Eric.

Ex-Backers price GBP 72.00*
incl. special wooden box signed by both Cliff and Eric.

*Prices subject to review over time.