Wu Jianjun\u2014known in the EDC community as “Old Wu”\u2014doesn’t give many interviews. At 46, he’s built FEGVE from a 1996 workshop in Yiwu to one of China’s recognized titanium craftsmanship brands. This is the story he told me over three hours of tea, occasionally translated by his daughter, often in hand gestures where words failed.<\/p>\n
“I was 14. School was not for me.” Old Wu’s English is limited, but the message is clear. “My father said: you want to work? Go. So I went.”<\/p>\n
In 1996, a 14-year-old Wu took a bus to Yiwu\u2014the world’s largest small commodity trading hub\u2014carrying nothing but the clothes on his back and the address of a distant relative who might have work. The relative didn’t. Wu slept in a train station for two weeks before finding a factory job at 15.<\/p>\n
For 13 years, Wu worked metal. Not titanium\u2014that came later. Brass, zinc alloy, stainless steel. He learned casting, machining, finishing, quality control. “Every position in the factory,” he says. “I did all.”<\/p>\n
The factory\u2014Tongli Crafts Factory\u2014produced souvenir metals for the global market. Wu absorbed everything: Western design preferences, Japanese precision standards, the economics of mass production. “They would reject 30% of output,” he recalls. “At first I thought: waste. Later I understood: quality is reputation.”<\/p>\n
The FEGVE name came from Wu’s vision: “Fe” for iron (\u94c1), “Gve” as invented\u2014the feeling of forging something valuable. The brand initially focused on metal crafts and OEM work for other companies.<\/p>\n
“For 20 years, I made products and put other people’s names on them,” Wu says. “In 2013, I decided: now I make my own name.”<\/p>\n
Moving from brass and steel to titanium wasn’t gradual\u2014it was a leap. “I saw a titanium keychain online in 2015. I held it in my hand and thought: this is the future.”<\/p>\n
The pivot required new equipment, new techniques, new suppliers. Titanium machines differently than steel\u2014higher temperatures, different tooling, slower feeds. “My first titanium batch, I ruined 40%,” Wu admits. “My workers said: go back to steel. I said: no.”<\/p>\n
The fidget spinner craze caught Wu off guard. “I was making keychains, suddenly everyone wants spinners.” FEGVE pivoted quickly, applying their titanium expertise to the trending category. By late 2017, they were producing 10,000+ spinners monthly.<\/p>\n
More importantly: they established titanium spinner credibility. “When collectors think quality titanium, they think FEGVE.”<\/p>\n
With spinner competition increasing, Wu returned to his core strength: titanium keychains. FEGVE’s patent-pending D-ring and quick-release systems filled genuine market needs. By 2018, FEGVE held 80% of the domestic Chinese titanium keychain market.<\/p>\n
“Keychains are personal,” Wu explains. “You touch them every day. You feel the quality in your hand. That’s why titanium\u2014biocompatible, warm to touch, never rusts.”<\/p>\n
“Every man needs a good nail clipper. Every man hates bad nail clippers.” Wu’s observation led to FEGVE’s most technically ambitious product: the CNC-machined nail clipper with “Heaven-Earth Edge” technology.<\/p>\n
The innovation: pairing HRC70 powder metallurgy steel blades with precision-ground titanium jaws. Alignment tolerance under 0.01mm. Success rate: 10%. “Nine out of ten fail quality control,” Wu says. “The ones that pass, we hand-test every pair.”<\/p>\n
\u00a56 million invested in five-axis CNC equipment. The kind of machine used for aerospace components, not keychains. “If I want to make the best, I need the best equipment,” Wu explains. “Chinese manufacturing used to mean cheap. I want Chinese manufacturing to mean precise.”<\/p>\n
The brand slogan\u2014”Find Yourself”\u2014came from Wu’s own journey. “I dropped out of school, everyone said: you are nothing. I worked 30 years, now I am something. Not because of school. Because of craft.”<\/p>\n
For EDC enthusiasts, the message resonates: carry what represents you. Don’t follow trends. Find your own path.<\/p>\n
Kickstarter represents FEGVE’s first direct Western market launch. “Before, we sold to distributors who sold to retailers who sold to you. Too many middlemen. Now, we talk directly.”<\/p>\n
The goal isn’t just sales\u2014it’s community. “I want Western EDC collectors to know: this titanium piece in your hand, I made it. My workers made it. With our hands.”<\/p>\n
Old Wu doesn’t speak English well. He doesn’t need to. His products speak for him: precision machined, thoughtfully designed, built to last. After 30 years in metalworking, he finally has his name on what he makes.<\/p>\n
And his name is finding its way into EDC collections worldwide.<\/p>\n
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