The 1st generation Japanese Rizzuto Estlieto Milano knives are marked by a set of characteristics. The bolsters tended to be step bolster or rectangular and the scale material used was bakelite. Batwing, mustache and standard guards are often seen. Just the same, rizzuto chronology is not black and white or start and stop. It is more like an arc or gradation which started  with a unique automatic knife made with an eye to the Italian makers and evolved for production efficiency and profit maximization. The 1st generation knives are in between and when the rizzuto maker(s) were finding their footing. The bakelite scales are among the earliest and there certainly are lighter acrylic scales found on these. 

The branding that appears on most rizzutos is obviously there to make tourists in Mexico and other consumers think the knives were made in Italy, similar in principle to the Japan produced bullfighter knives with Spanish motifs. Rizzuto in Italian is a proper name which means curly. Estileto is a Spanish word for stiletto. Milano is the Italian spelling for the city. Putting it all together and  practically speaking, the words mean “made in Japan.”