Shopping a Community of Makers: Santa Fe Stoneworks

October 31, 2022

We at The Great Republic take pride in celebrating American craftsmanship and supporting the community of American makers, designers, artists, and creators represented in our shop. From our leather makers to letterpress designers, jewelry crafters to cutlers, pen makers and horologists, by shopping with The Great Republic you are helping over 30 small businesses thrive.

We love to promote the small businesses and creative experts that help make The Great Republic such a special place to shop. One such business is Santa Fe Stoneworks, who makes one-of-a-kind pocket knives and cutlery.

Founder Bill Wirtel started his craft in 1978 after leaving the business world, inspired by his grandfather who was a stone cutter in the early 1900s. Bill crafts his gorgeous knives alongside his wife, son, and daughter to this day– a true family business. Tucked away in the Rockies, in the shadows of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, their centuries-old adobe ranch house and studio is the birthplace of beautiful Damascus steel knives.

Dinosaur Bone Pocket Knives at The Great Republic

With care, they craft intricate knives that feature natural elements such as turquoise, gemstones, wood, and even fossilized mammoth tooth and dinosaur bones!

Woolly Mammoth Tooth 4" Damascus Steel Linerlock Pocket Knife

Born from Native American roots and their belief that "the gift of a knife symbolized an exchange of trust and respect," Santa Fe Stoneworks is dedicated to crafting high-quality pieces that are meant to last for years to come. These are designed to be used in everyday life, but will withstand generations of use.

Shop our whole line of Santa Fe Stoneworks knives, letter openers, and wine keys here!

The Beautiful and the Damned: Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald

September 20, 2023

The Beautiful and the Damned, published in 1922 by F. Scott Fitzgerald, presents the reader with a fictionalized telling of the perpetually problematic relationship between Zelda and Frances Scott Key Fitzgerald. The novel is not only a landmark in the career of F. Scott Fitzgerald, but a glimpse into past high-societies wrapped up in a rebound cover of blue leather and hand-worked gilding.

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JFK and James Bond

August 29, 2023

President John F. Kennedy was a fan of Ian Fleming’s spy novels, and helped propel him to fame in the American market.

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California in Three Maps

August 23, 2023

California has a very interesting mapping history. During and after the Mexican-American War, efforts to map California increased. Once gold was discovered in 1848, cartographers, geographers, and business men hurried to survey the land, lay claim to it, and, ultimately, market it to Americans heading west. When California joined the Union as the thirty-first state in 1851, interest in plotting California's landscapes skyrocketed in tandem with its population. Explore the history of California with these three maps from our collection.

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