Steve Rapp Custom Knife Blade Show 2021 “Best Bowie” South Sea Gold Lip Pearl and Mother of Pearl Kimball Bowie

This Bowie is patterned after a Bowie constructed in Vicksburg, MS Circa 1850.  Sheath and handle material are made of the non-tarnishable Monel.  Â Steven Rapp has been a member of The Antique bowie Knife Association for many, many years, and has handled hundreds of antique Bowies. Â This Bowie is perhaps the only South Sea Goldlip Pearl Bowie in existence.  It took six years for Steven Rapp to find large enough pieces of Goldlip Pearl Shell to be able to construct this knife. Â The handle is in a mosaic pattern with crimped brass flat-wire in between pieces of Pearl.  Blade boasts a Spanish notch in front of the Monel guard. Monel (consists of 20% Copper and 80% Nickle.) was developed for submarine use to carry saltwater to cool off the nuclear reactor. It does not corrode or tarnish. The Monel sheath tapers from throat to tip, with a super sharp tip and has been engraved by Master Engraver Julie Warenski with 24 Kt Gold Inlays.  The sheath is micro-welded so there is no seam, unlike welded sheaths which do have a seam. The seam on welded sheaths typically corrode and tarnish due to the silver solder. This Kimball Bowie won "Best Bowie" at the 2021 Blade Show. The three judges of the show were all American Bladesmith Society Mastersmiths. The following were the judges comments on the Blade Show "Best Bowie" winner: 1) lightening fast in hand; 2) Old-style Bowie; 3) Super clean lines; 4) Challenging design; 5) fuller runs nice and straight; 6) Sheath is as nice as the knife; 7) Has some elegance which the dog-bone style does not.