Case Hardened Skins in CS2: Blue Gems, Patterns and the Best Picks (2026)

Case Hardened is the blue and gold CS2 finish where the pattern number decides most of the price, more than the wear. This guide explains how the pattern seed works, what makes a copy a blue gem and why one AK-47 was reportedly sold for over $1 million while an ordinary one costs a few hundred dollars. Then we pick the best Case Hardened skins in four budgets, from a Five-SeveN under $20 to the Karambit, using SkinsMonkey prices checked on November 1, 2026. Our WIKI lists all Case Hardened skins, 24 of them: 20 knives, the Hydra Gloves, the AK-47, the Five-SeveN and the MAC-10.

Every skin below can be traded for with the skins you already own on SkinsMonkey. If you are after one specific seed, our guides to AK-47 Case Hardened blue gem patterns and the Karambit blue gem go deeper into those two weapons.

What Case Hardened Is: Pattern Seeds, Blue Gems and Gold Gems

The name comes from a real metal process. In traditional case hardening the steel is sealed in a box with ground bone and charcoal, heated and then quenched, and the surface comes out hard and stained in black, blue and purple. It is still used as a decorative finish on real firearms. In CS2 the finish puts blue, purple and gold stains on the metal parts of a weapon or a blade, and the mix is different on every copy.

1. Aug 14, 2013 Arms Deal adds the AK-47 and five knives in Case Hardened.
2. Nov 6, 2013 CS:GO Weapon Case 2 adds the Five-SeveN version.
3. Feb 15, 2018 The Clutch Case adds Hydra Gloves | Case Hardened.
4. Feb 6, 2024 The Kilowatt Case brings the Kukri Knife in Case Hardened.
5. Jun 5, 2024 StatTrak AK-47 #661 reportedly sells for over $1 million.

Every copy gets a pattern number, also called the seed or pattern index, when it is created. There are 1,000 possible numbers, and the number decides where the blue and the gold land on the weapon. It never changes. Float is a different value: it decides how scratched the skin is, as our CS2 wear levels guide explains. A blue gem in Battle-Scarred is still a blue gem, only with more scratches over the blue.

A blue gem is a copy whose pattern puts a large area of blue on the playside, the side of the weapon you see in first person and when you inspect it. Blue only on the back adds much less to the price. Collectors also look for gold gems, copies that are almost all gold on the playside. A good number on one weapon is not a good number on another, because each weapon model places the colors differently. That is why the AK-47 and the Karambit have different famous seeds.

AK-47 | Case Hardened blue gem seeds 13 patterns on the list

AK-47 | Case HardenedLive price range · SkinsMonkey, Nov 6, 2026$159.40 – $1,440.55Check price

Check your pattern

#

Type the pattern number from the item’s inspect screen (0–1000).

1. Tier 17 patterns

   Most blue on the playside

   • 661
   • 670
   • 955
   • 321
   • 387
   • 151
   • 179
2. Tier 26 patterns

   Less blue, smaller premiums

   • 592
   • 4
   • 168
   • 429
   • 905
   • 13

Community tier lists; sources disagree on lower tiers.

These AK-47 tiers come from community lists, not from Valve, and the lists disagree on the lower tiers. Open the inspect and judge the playside of the exact copy yourself before you trade.

Two famous copies show how far the price can go. In June 2024 a StatTrak Factory New AK-47 | Case Hardened with pattern 661 was reportedly sold to an anonymous buyer for over $1 million; the exact price was never made public. The Karambit | Case Hardened with pattern 387 in Factory New has never been sold publicly. In 2021 its owner turned down an offer paid in Bitcoin that media reported as 1.2 million euros.

Without a special pattern, rarity sets the price. In cases, knives and gloves only come from the rare special item slot of a case. The AK-47 | Case Hardened is Classified, while the Five-SeveN and the MAC-10 are Restricted, which is why an ordinary Case Hardened knife costs hundreds of dollars and the pistol costs less than $20.

How We Picked These Case Hardened Skins

Our picks by appearance within each budget, prices from SkinsMonkey on November 1, 2026. A skin is in the bracket of its From price, the cheapest wear we list. The brackets are under $50, $50 to $250, $250 to $800 and above $800. Inside each one we judged how much of the pattern you can see on the weapon in first person and in the inspect, and named one top pick.

The tables show the wear we would buy and what it cost on November 1, next to current From and Up to prices for every wear. These are prices for ordinary patterns and non-StatTrak copies. A copy with a lot of blue on the playside is priced by its owner, often many times higher. Wear also changes the price: a Field-Tested Five-SeveN | Case Hardened cost $14.35 and a Factory New one $44.03.

Jump to: Under $50 · $50 to $250 · $250 to $800 · Above $800 · Which knife shows the most pattern · Wear and float · Cases and how to get one

Under $50: Five-SeveN, MAC-10 and a Desert Eagle With the Same Look

Only two Case Hardened guns cost less than $50, a Restricted pistol and a Restricted SMG with the same blue and gold mix as the AK-47 on a smaller surface.

Two more picks in this bracket:

• MAC-10 | Case Hardened: from the 2021 Dust II Collection, so it only comes from Dust II souvenir and highlight packages. Field-Tested cost $31.27, five cents more than Battle-Scarred. We found one listing on SkinsMonkey on November 1, so check the current price before you plan around it.
• Desert Eagle | Heat Treated: not part of the Case Hardened family, but it has a very similar blue and gold heat-stain look and its own blue gem patterns. It came with the Armory in October 2024 and Valve removed it from the Armory in January 2025, so today you get it only by trading. Field-Tested cost $1.45.

$50 to $250: AK-47, Hydra Gloves and the Cheapest Case Hardened Knives

Most Case Hardened knives start in this bracket, from the Navaja Knife at $96.09 to the Huntsman Knife at $229.02 on November 1. On almost all of them Field-Tested cost less than $20 more than Battle-Scarred, so we would take Field-Tested; the Shadow Daggers and the Falchion Knife are the exceptions.

Five more picks in this bracket:

• Hydra Gloves | Case Hardened: the only Case Hardened gloves. They came with the Clutch Case and are also in the Revolution Case. Field-Tested cost $74.62, eight cents more than Well-Worn and Battle-Scarred, while Factory New was $573.21.
• Navaja Knife | Case Hardened: the cheapest Case Hardened knife on our WIKI, from $96.09. Field-Tested, $106.18.
• Kukri Knife | Case Hardened: added in February 2024 with the Kilowatt Case and also in the Gallery Case. It had 66 listings on November 1, more than any other Case Hardened skin on our WIKI. Field-Tested, $125.71.
• Bowie Knife | Case Hardened: a big, wide blade with a lot of room for the colors. Field-Tested cost $165.59, but Factory New was $1,128.74, because clean copies are rare. Drops from the Operation Wildfire Case.
• Huntsman Knife | Case Hardened: a long hunting blade and one of the cheaper ways into a big Case Hardened knife. Field-Tested, $244.71, from the Huntsman Weapon Case.

Nine more Case Hardened knives start under $250: the Survival Knife, Shadow Daggers, Paracord Knife, Gut Knife, Ursus Knife, Classic Knife, Nomad Knife, Falchion Knife and Flip Knife. On the Survival Knife, Field-Tested was even cheaper than Battle-Scarred on November 1.

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$250 to $800: M9 Bayonet, Talon and the Longer Blades

Five knives start between $250 and $800: the Stiletto, the Skeleton, the Bayonet, the Talon and the M9 Bayonet. Three of them, the Bayonet, the M9 and the Talon, have long blades where a blue or gold area is easy to see.

Four more picks in this bracket:

• Talon Knife | Case Hardened: a long curved blade and a spin inspect that shows both faces. Field-Tested cost $579.66. Drops from the Horizon and Danger Zone cases.
• Bayonet | Case Hardened: the straight military blade from 2013, and the cheapest of the long knives here. Field-Tested, $337.46.
• Skeleton Knife | Case Hardened: a short blade with a skeleton handle. Field-Tested, $346.22, from the Shattered Web and Fracture cases.
• Stiletto Knife | Case Hardened: a thin switchblade, so the colors appear on a narrow strip. Field-Tested, $332.83.

Above $800: Karambit and Butterfly Knife

Only two Case Hardened knives started above $800 on our WIKI on November 1: the Karambit at $890.59 and the Butterfly Knife at $913.17. In this finish you pay hundreds of dollars more for them than for a Talon or a Bayonet, even on an ordinary pattern.

One more pick in this bracket:

• Butterfly Knife | Case Hardened: the blade flips open and closed in the inspect, so both sides of the pattern pass in front of you. Its From price of $913.17 was the highest of any Case Hardened skin on November 1, and that was Well-Worn, cheaper than Battle-Scarred at $922.34. Field-Tested cost $997.30. Drops from the Operation Breakout Weapon Case.

Which Case Hardened Knife Shows the Most Pattern

We think blade size matters more on Case Hardened than on any other finish, because you are paying to see the colors. On a long, wide blade like the M9 Bayonet or the Bowie Knife the blue and gold have space to form large areas, and a small blue patch is still easy to see. On short blades you see a smaller part of the pattern.

The inspect animation matters too. The Karambit and the Talon spin, and the Butterfly Knife flips, so you see both faces of the blade, including the back side that collectors care less about. The Shadow Daggers and the Navaja are the opposite: two short blades and one small folding blade, which show the least of the finish.

Wear and Float on Case Hardened Skins

Check the pattern first, then the wear. The float only adds scratches; it does not move the colors. A copy with a lot of blue in Field-Tested can cost more than a Factory New copy with an ordinary pattern, so on Case Hardened the seed comes before the float when you compare offers.

On ordinary patterns, buy Field-Tested. On November 1 a Factory New copy cost about two to three times Field-Tested on most Case Hardened skins: $563.20 against $291.04 on the AK-47 and $2,288.94 against $1,019.71 on the Karambit. The Bowie Knife and the Hydra Gloves are the exceptions, with Factory New at almost seven and almost eight times the Field-Tested price.

The most worn copy is not always the cheapest. On the Butterfly Knife, Well-Worn cost $913.17 and Battle-Scarred $922.34, and on the Survival Knife Well-Worn and Field-Tested were both cheaper than Battle-Scarred.

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How to Get One: Which Cases Drop Case Hardened, Trade-Ups or a Trade

Case Hardened skins drop from 25 weapon cases and from the Dust II souvenir packages. Our WIKI lists these containers:

• CS:GO Weapon Case: the AK-47 and the five original knives (Bayonet, Flip, Gut, Karambit, M9 Bayonet). The same five knives are also in ten more cases: the eSports 2013, Operation Bravo, eSports 2013 Winter, Winter Offensive, CS:GO Weapon Case 3, Operation Phoenix, eSports 2014 Summer, Operation Vanguard and Revolver cases, and the CS:GO Weapon Case 2, which also has the Five-SeveN.
• One knife type per case: Operation Breakout (Butterfly), Huntsman Weapon Case (Huntsman), Falchion Case (Falchion), Shadow Case (Shadow Daggers), Operation Wildfire (Bowie) and CS20 Case (Classic Knife).
• Horizon and Danger Zone cases: Navaja, Stiletto, Talon and Ursus.
• Shattered Web and Fracture cases: Nomad, Paracord, Skeleton and Survival.
• Kilowatt and Gallery cases: Kukri Knife. Clutch and Revolution cases: Hydra Gloves.
• Dust II souvenir packages from Stockholm 2021 to Budapest 2025, plus the 2025 Dust II Highlight packages: the MAC-10.

You cannot choose the pattern when you open a case; the seed is random. A knife from the special item slot is already rare, and a knife with a good pattern is rarer still, so opening cases for a blue gem costs far more than buying one.

Since the October 22, 2025 update, five Covert skins can also be traded up into a knife or gloves from the collection of one of the skins you put into the contract. You still do not choose the finish or the pattern. Our CS2 trade-up guide explains the rules.

The Steam Community Market charges about 15% on every sale, a 5% Steam fee plus a 10% CS2 fee, which adds up on a $1,000 knife. If you want one specific copy with a pattern you have already seen in the inspect, trading is the direct route. Check what your skins are worth with our free CS2 Inventory Value Checker, then trade them toward the Case Hardened skin you want on SkinsMonkey, where trades with our bots go through instantly. SkinsMonkey does not pay out cash; if you want to sell a skin for money, our sister service SkinCashier does that.

Our top pick in each budget

AC

Bottom line

Pick the weapon you can afford in Field-Tested, then judge the blue on the playside before you look at the float.

The Five-SeveN in Minimal Wear, $17.82 on November 1, is the cheapest Case Hardened we would buy, and the AK-47 in Field-Tested at $291.04 is the classic. For a knife, the Navaja and the Kukri start under $130, but the M9 Bayonet and the Karambit show far more of the pattern, one on its wide blade and the other in its spin.

On an ordinary pattern, Factory New costs about two to three times Field-Tested and adds little to the look. A copy with a lot of blue is priced by its owner, so open the inspect and check the playside before you trade for it.

Compare Case Hardened pricesEvery Case Hardened skin, current prices on SkinsMonkey

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