The company was founded in 1884 as Messerfabrik Carl Elsener, the workshop of Karl Elsener in Ibach. Elsener, in 1891 co-founded Schweizerischer Messerschmiedverband, an association of Swiss knife manufacturers. Elsener and his peers from that time delivered knives to the Swiss army. In 1892, most of Elsener’s knife craftsmen left that manufacturing field as it became apparent that Solingen manufacturers could deliver at a lower price. Elsener persisted in competing with Solingen, hence incurring severe financial losses.

Elsener’s Schweizer Offiziers- und Sportmesser was patented in 1897, later marketed internationally as the Original Swiss Army Knife. This knife was not adopted by the Swiss Armed Forces as ordnance, but its commercial success allowed the company to recover financially.

On the death of his mother in 1909, Elsener named the brand “Victoria” in her honour. The introduction of the Swiss coat of arms as company logo dates back to the same year. In 1921, the company changed its trade name to the present “Victorinox”, a portmanteau of “Victoria” and “inox”, an abbreviation for acier inoxydable, French for stainless steel. Its legal name was officially changed in 1979.