The stiletto (Italian Stiletto) is a cold edged thrusting weapon, a type of the dagger. It originated from a metal instrument for writing (that is how it got its name). As a rule it has got a thin triangular tapering blade and a grip with a handguard in the form of a cross.
Stilettos came to an existence in the early Middle Ages. To reach through knights armor, warriors needed a weapon with a sharp and thin in the cross-section blade that would fit in between of narrow openings of the armor. A classic stiletto is a weapon that came from Italy in the fifteenth century. A thin triangular blade so sharp that it could pierce not only an armor, but a chain mail as well. Usually a stiletto was held in a small sheath in a boot or it was hidden in clothes folds. Besides it was worn on a waist belt as a parade weapon (decoration). It was widely used from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries in Italy and other West-European countries.
Modern armourers artistically manufacture sophisticated stilettos' struct ures and create true armoury and jewelry masterpieces.
Such stilettos will decorate any collection and they will characterize their owner as a person of an exquisite artistic taste.
