Interesting. I picked mine up 20 or so years ago at Carroll's Gun Shop in Wharton, Texas, the first S30V blade I bought. Mine is #160 of First Production Run of 1,000, but the hardware is black. These are great knives. Benchmade's S30V seems finer grained than some other makers. My Buck knives in S30V, for instance, seem grittier -- still cut great though.