Laguiole knife handmade from Laguiole, France

[Lady Smith]

Hey guys,

Sorry for not being here very often since a few months. I have to say I'm a lot of busy, and even don't have time to enjoy shooting.... hopefully it'll getting quieter soon.
I wanted to show you what I had for Christmas, it's never too late.

So I show you my Laguiole, made by cutler Brun in Laguiole, France, but firstable, I would like to tell you a little about the story of the Laguiole knife (hopefully I didn't lost a lot of my American language as I don't practice as much as before) :

In the early 1800s, the first cutlers went to Laguiole, a village in Aveyron, France.

In 1829, Pierre-Jean Calmels, which was only 16yo, made the first knife Laguiole.
The most part of his knives was made in Aubrac cow horn because they were affordable to be using everyday, at work etc... but he made some luxurious ones in ivory.
Aubrac cow is a cow from Aveyron, France.

Pierre-Jean Calmels was the first one to receive a Silver Medal for the quality of his knives from Laguiole in 1868.
The first Laguiole was « straight » (picture attached below) and not engraved.

In 1850, the knife finally has the same blade as today, always designed by Pierre-Jean Calmels, but they still ain't engraved.

In 1880, other cutlers from Laguiole made this same knife. A corkscrew can be added and knifes are engraved with a flower on the top.
On the pic below, we can see the flower on the top of the knife in the middle.

When the rail road went to Laguiole, cutlers decided to participate at shows/contest, and in 20 years or so they won about 20 medals which will bring a good reputation of the Laguiole knife. Pierre-Jean Calmels won the Golden Medal in 1900 at the Exposition Universelle de Paris (universal exposition from Paris).

In 1908-1909, a bee is applied on the top of the knife and becomes the emblem.

Unfortunately at the end of the 1st World War, the number of workers has practically disappeared. In 1950 the last cutler in Laguiole closed his door.
At this time, the Laguiole knife was made in Thiers, Auvergne, France.

In 1985, some people made the Laguiole knife production coming back in Laguiole, which created 100 jobs.

Back in the days, no one thought about to register the name « Laguiole » for their knives, and so, anybody can make a knife looking like a Laguiole and call it Laguiole...
Nowadays, many « Laguiole » knives are made in Asia or Pakistan ! In fact, there are more « Laguiole » coming from other countries than Laguiole coming from France...
Also, there are many « Laguiole » knives that ain't hand made. Some cutlers purchase each part, sometimes from other countries, and they just put them together...

Example of engraved Laguiole (handmade) :

I wanted a real Laguiole hand made from a « real » cutler in Laguiole who even forge the blade. 100% authentic for me. I didn't want to give my money to a « big » enterprise that makes knives in a production line assembly or a cutler who just does a parts assembly...

So, my Laguiole comes from the cutler BRUN in Laguiole. It's made in Aubrac cow horn and inox. It's not engraved because it's a tribute of the old Laguiole knife just before the bee was engraved on them. I just asked to him to engrave my name on the blade.
I have seen many pics on his facebook page where I could see he makes everything himself and I share a few below :

And this is mine :
:

Basically, Laguiole knives are 13cm length (closed), mine is 11cm length to fit my lady hand.

Thanks for reading.

PS : cutler Calmels still exists in Laguiole, it's the same family but the quality is not as good as before for what I have read.

 

[Old Arkansawyer]

Some beautiful knives reflecting great talent and craftsmanship.

 

[Ed Fowler]

Very well written article, you covered all the bases! Truly ethnic blades are not seen anymore, in America the art knife has taken over. I suggest you send a copy of what you have posted to Steve Shacklford @ Blade Magazine, he might very well print it and if he does not let me know and I will have another one for you. [email protected].
The knife looks to be well thought out and developed into good using blade. Thanks for sharing!!

 

[BillBond]

Back in the 90's I was a small time knife dealer.
Every "Laguiole" I saw was cheap junk, none of them were near as nice as the ones in your pictures.

 

[THE PILGRIM]

A year or so ago I saw a guy at a small Gun Show who had about 100 or so Laguiotes.
Not a knife I'm real familiar with,
But I also concluded they were not a quality build.

 

[ISCS Yoda]

Very interesting. Merci beaucoup!!

Somewhere in my knife collection I have or had a knife that looks like that but I bet it's not genuine. I need to find it, presuming I didn't lose it in the 2018 fire.

 

[Marshwheeling]

Bladeforums has at least one active thread on traditional French knives, including Laguiole.
Traditional French Friday | BladeForums.com

As the OP points out, most Laguiole knives are now made in Thiers. Quality and cost are quite varied. Do your research, and do not get stuck with a cheesy imitation from Pakistan or China.

 

[Lady Smith]

A year or so ago I saw a guy at a small Gun Show who had about 100 or so Laguiotes.
Not a knife I'm real familiar with,
But I also concluded they were not a quality build.

If even in France it's hard to find a handmade Laguiole I can imagine how difficult it can be in other countries !

I spent a lot of evenings on the internet to find a « real » cutler in Laguiole, and I found Brun by chance when I was looking for pics on Google.

Price can be very very expansive when it comes to hand made engraved Laguiole, moreover if they have a Damas blade and are made in mammoth or boar teeth/ivory.

 

[Smoke]

Those are some very beautiful knives

 

[Thuer]

Thank you for this good story. I have learned something. Good foto's to.

 

[ContinentalOp]

Very nice.

The only French knife I have is a Douk Douk, which I got based on the recommendation/post of another member here.

 

[Eltioloco]

Very nice article on the artistry and history of the French Laguiole knives.
I purchased a Gilles Laguiole handmade knife from their shop in Theirs-France five years ago. Tomorrow I will take some pictures of it and add to your post.
They have a uniquely French look.

 

[stu1ritter]

The mention of the Laguiole cork screw made me dig around in my cork screw drawer to find an old present from a friend from many years ago. They are a work of art and the hand forging is obvious all over the piece.

Stu

 

[leonardocarrillo]

Very good all the information you gave us, thank you very much for sharing it with us.

 

[s&wchad]

Lady Smith,
I wish you had post this about 4 months ago. I went to an estate sale and saw 4 similar knives offered at $25 each. I knew nothing about them, but bought what I thought was the nicest of the bunch. When I got home, I looked them up online and immediately went back to the sale to buy the other 3. They were already gone.

Perhaps you can tell me about the one I purchased. I do know the blade is made from a Swedish stainless alloy that is well regarded.

 

[Heinz]

Nice writeup on the Laguiole. I have several, 3 of which were in easy reach. Sorry for the iphone photos with shadows. The "Une Main" by Ch. Coutteier is the best knife, although it has no work on the backspring. It is an exceptional knife. Laguiole makers do the world's best corkscrews.

 

[Heinz]

S&Wchad, really nice knife that you have. The french do some outstanding knife work.

 

[Lady Smith]

Very interesting. Merci beaucoup!!

Somewhere in my knife collection I have or had a knife that looks like that but I bet it's not genuine. I need to find it, presuming I didn't lose it in the 2018 fire.

If you find it I'll be happy to see it

 

[Lady Smith]

Very nice article on the artistry and history of the French Laguiole knives.
I purchased a Gilles Laguiole handmade knife from their shop in Theirs-France five years ago. Tomorrow I will take some pictures of it and add to your post.
They have a uniquely French look.

I'm wondering if you are able to buy it from France on internet ? And if there are any issues with customs ?
Just curious.

Waiting on your pics

 

[Lady Smith]

Lady Smith,
I wish you had post this about 4 months ago. I went to an estate sale and saw 4 similar knives offered at $25 each. I knew nothing about them, but bought what I thought was the nicest of the bunch. When I got home, I looked them up online and immediately went back to the sale to buy the other 3. They were already gone.

Perhaps you can tell me about the one I purchased. I do know the blade is made from a Swedish stainless alloy that is well regarded.

You have a very beautiful Laguiole here !

Thiers-Issard is in Puy-de-Dôme, France. It was created in 1884 by the blacksmith Pierre Thiers. The enterprise is called Thiers-Issard because the last name of his wife was Issard. They made shavers. Then in the early 1900s, they made knives for kitchen and butcher. Pierre Thiers died in 1929.
Pierre Thiers Junior was associated with his mother to keep the enterprise alive and then Louis Thiers.

In 1985 the company was sold to Gilles Reynewaeter. At this day in Europe, it's the only enterprise with an other one which still makes shavers handmade and is a benchmark in terms of quality.
They still make handmade knives too.

Your Laguiole is hand engraved. What we call in french the « fly » or the « bee » is an eagle head on yours (if I see well) and I have no doubt it's forged on the backspring and not welded.
You can see that when you're going to close or open the blade, when the « fly » is lifted up. You look at the front and you don't have to see a welding mark. Hopefully you understand what I mean

You also have what we call the shepherd cross (idk if you call it like that as well). The story says shepherd (and anybody else of course) could put the knife into the bread and pray.