Painted Pony Michael J. Prater Paragon, Asheville Steel 03/25 Very Rare For Sale

Before Michael Prater applied his custom \"Painted Pony\" handle work and spine file-work, the physical knife itself was manufactured by the Paragon Cutlery Company.Originally founded as Paragon Cutlery, the brand later became highly integrated with Asheville Steel in North Carolina.Historically, Paragon was famous for producing high-quality production knives, many of which were designed by legendary knife makers like Blackie Collins and Tommy Lee.2. The Seki City, Japan ConnectionDuring Paragon’s classic era, they contracted their premium blades out to master craftsmen in Seki City, Japan—a region globally renowned for hundreds of years of traditional samurai sword smithing and cutlery production.Paragon shipped these incredibly high-grade, mirror-polished Seki blank blades over to the United States.3. The Painted Pony CollaborationOnce in the USA, Paragon Cutlery Company collaborated on exclusive factory limited-edition runs with artisan customizers like Michael J. Prater. Prater took the raw, unhandled Paragon Seki City factory knives and completely transformed them by adding his signature custom file-work along the metal spine, heavy texturing to the bolster, and intricate multi-material handles.