In the late ’70s and early ’80s, the Rubik’s Cube took the world by storm. Billed as a puzzle toy, it was equal parts mechanical wonder and near-magical oddity. As a kid, WESN’s founder, Billy Chester, was obsessed with the Rubik’s Cube.
According to WESN’s Head of Marketing & Creative, Ethan Thompson, that obsession stayed with him. “The number of times he’s said making a mechanical puzzle is his ‘dream collab’ is measurable.” In fact, it may have directly led to the brand’s latest EDC knife collaboration.
Crafted in conjunction with YouTuber and magician Chris Ramsay, the WESN x 1st Magic Puzzle Box and Microblade keychain knife set is a master-crafted EDC wonder that requires some cleverness to use.
Do you believe in magic?
The collaboration actually comes in two parts. Obviously, the knife is the prize to be had, but customers will have to earn it, as it comes inside a puzzle box that took “more than 24 months of research, six design overhauls, and countless prototypes” to perfect.
“We have never, ever, designed or manufactured something like this before,” Thompson says. “Every tiny tolerance and moving piece has an important function. A tiny difference can throw off the whole puzzle. It took quite a few rounds of sampling, but we finally got there.”
