Prince Customs Protean Skelly Dragon, Serial No. 1056
This Prince Customs Protean Skelly Dragon wears its frame open. Princeton Wong cut skeleton windows through the front of the Grade 5 Titanium handle, so the blade shows through when the knife is closed. Behind those windows, a recessed pocket carries a milled dragon-scale texture. A CPM 20CV tanto and 2i Green Glass hardware complete Serial No. 1056.
We acquired this knife directly from Wong at the 2026 TACC Show in Orlando, and it is new. Wong made it in his Houston shop in August 2026.
Princeton Wong and the Prince Customs Shop in Houston
Princeton Wong runs Prince Customs from a former auto shop in Houston, Texas. His path to knives ran through martial arts, graphic design and performance auto parts. Before knives, he laser engraved firearms and machined architectural and automotive components on CNC equipment.
Wong registered for Blade Show 2018 before he had built a single knife. He then made 12 examples of his first design, the Daruma, in the two months before the show. Three years later, Blade Show 2021 named him Best New Maker.
More awards followed quickly. At ICCE 2021 he won Most Innovative Design, plus The Knifemakers’ Guild’s Hank Rummel Award for Best First-year Probationary Member. At Blade Show Texas 2022, the Guild named his Daruma Best Tactical Folder. He also served as the Guild’s Secretary from 2022 to 2025.
His designs reach production too, since CRKT builds his Nucleus, Fial and Orochi. Collectors comparing makers can start with our guide to master custom knifemakers.
The Skelly Frame and Dragon Scale Pocket of the Prince Customs Protean
The frame and backspacer of this Prince Customs Protean are Grade 5 Titanium, the Ti-6Al-4V alloy the certificate lists as Ti64. The finish is Zirblast, a blasted satin gray. On the Skelly frame, open windows run through the front half of each side, and the closed blade shows through them.
At the rear of each side, a recessed pocket carries rows of overlapping scales milled into the Titanium. The pattern catches light at every angle and also gives the hand some grip. For a hand-sculpted approach to Titanium, compare the John Gray Slitter V2.
The lock is a frame lock with a hardened RWL34 insert where the lockbar meets the blade tang. The 3D-milled pocket clip and the two pivot collars are 2i Green Glass, a glass composite formerly known as Morphaholic. Against the gray Titanium, they are the one strong color on the knife.
The CPM 20CV Tanto Blade and Front Flipper
The blade is CPM 20CV, a powder metallurgy martensitic Stainless Steel. Its data sheet describes a high volume of vanadium carbides for wear resistance and a chromium-rich matrix for corrosion resistance. Typical chemistry runs 1.90% carbon, 20% chromium and 4% vanadium.
Wong ground it as a compound tanto with a flat kissaki, the angled point section of a tanto. The blade measures 3.13 inches, with 2.92 inches of cutting edge. The Koenig Arius Gen 4 runs the same steel in a very different design.
Deployment is manual. A jimped front flipper tab sits on the spine at the pivot end, and an elongated thumb hole runs through the blade. Either one opens the knife with one hand. The 3LegDog M10 is another front flipper we have listed.
Condition and What Is Included With This Prince Customs Protean
This Prince Customs Protean is new. We bought it direct from the maker at the 2026 TACC Show in Orlando. See how we grade every knife before listing it.
- Prince Customs Protean Skelly Dragon, Serial No. 1056
- Prince Customs metal case with a clear window lid and a PROTEAN foam insert
- Certificate of Authenticity (COA), signed by the maker
Prince Customs Protean Specifications
The model, serial number, materials and date come from the maker’s Certificate of Authenticity. It sits among our other folding knives.
- Maker: Prince Customs, Princeton Wong, Houston, Texas
- Model: Protean Skelly Dragon
- Serial number: 1056
- Date made: August 2026
- Country of origin: USA
- Overall length: 7.13 in
- Blade length: 3.13 in
- Cutting edge: 2.92 in
- Closed length: 4 in
- Weight: 3.4 oz
- Blade steel: CPM 20CV
- Blade profile: Tanto with a flat kissaki
- Grind: Compound
- Edge: Plain
- Lock: Frame lock with a hardened RWL34 lockbar insert
- Deployment: Front flipper and elongated thumb hole
- Frame and backspacer: Grade 5 Titanium (Ti-6Al-4V), Zirblast finish
- Frame pattern: Skelly windows at the front, milled dragon-scale pocket at the rear
- Pocket clip: 3D-milled 2i Green Glass
- Pivot collars: 2i Green Glass, both sides
- Authorship: Custom by Princeton Wong, machined in his Houston shop
- Condition: New, direct from the maker
- SKU: 00228-PRC-PROTEAN-SKELLYDRAGON-20CV-20260801
- Included: Prince Customs metal case with clear window lid; Certificate of Authenticity signed by the maker
Video Description: Protean Skelly Dragon
This is the Prince Customs Protean Skelly Dragon, Serial No. 1056, made by Princeton Wong in Houston in August 2026. It is new from the maker. The 3.13 inch blade is a CPM 20CV compound-ground tanto with a flat kissaki. The Grade 5 Titanium frame is skeletonized at the front, with a dragon-scale pocket milled into the rear.
A frame lock with a hardened RWL34 insert holds the blade open. It opens with a front flipper tab or an elongated thumb hole. The pocket clip and pivot collars are 2i Green Glass, and the Titanium carries a Zirblast finish. Overall length is 7.13 inches, closed length is 4 inches, and it weighs 3.4 ounces.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CPM 20CV steel good for knives?
Yes, especially for a knife meant to hold an edge. Its data sheet describes a martensitic Stainless Steel with a high volume of vanadium carbides for wear resistance. The powder metallurgy process also spreads those carbides finely and evenly. Typical service hardness runs 56 to 59 HRC.
Is CPM 20CV a Stainless Steel?
Yes. It carries about 20% chromium, and its data sheet credits that chromium-rich matrix with outstanding corrosion resistance. Still, no blade is rustproof, so wipe it dry after use and it will stay clean.
What does Skelly Dragon mean on the Prince Customs Protean?
It describes this frame. Skelly refers to the open, skeletonized windows through the front of each Titanium side. Dragon refers to the overlapping scale texture milled into the recessed pocket at the rear. The certificate records the model as Protean Skelly Dragon.
What is 2i Green Glass?
It is a glass composite, used here for the 3D-milled pocket clip and both pivot collars. The material was formerly known as Morphaholic. Against the Zirblast Titanium, it gives the knife its only strong color.
How is the Prince Customs Protean made?
Wong builds it in his Houston shop, where his equipment includes 5-axis CNC mills, live-tool lathes and a 5-axis waterjet. That machining shows in the windowed frame and the milled scale pocket. The knife community accepts the Protean as a custom, made in one maker’s shop.
Where did this Prince Customs Protean come from?
We bought it directly from Princeton Wong at the 2026 TACC Show in Orlando, The Ancient City Continental Knife Exposition. It is new. It ships in its Prince Customs case with the Certificate of Authenticity, signed by the maker.
Does We Buy Knife Collections actively support the broader knife enthusiast community?
Yes. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, We Buy Knife Collections is a curator and purveyor of fine custom made folding and fixed-blade knives. We are dedicated to the high-end custom knife community and we support knife rights advocacy.
Following our commitment upgrade in April 2026, we are proud to hold an AKTI Premier Membership, supporting the American Knife & Tool Institute’s vital advocacy and lobbying for knife owners, makers, and the future of the industry.
Buy This Prince Customs Protean
We inspected this Prince Customs Protean and described it as it is: new, direct from Princeton Wong, with its case and certificate. See what else is ready to ship on our Prince Customs page. If you are refining a collection of your own, we also buy knife collections.
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