The “forced notch” mechanism is an evolution of the traditional slipjoint system, and often found on French knives such as Laguioles, Saint-Martin or Thiers for instance.
It’s somewhere between a classic flat slipjoint and a lockback.
The blade has a little notch where a part of the backspring comes to lock. Unlike a lockback, it’s rounded and will slip when pushing on the blade to fold the knife. It’s an added safety to prevent the knife from closing involuntarily.
The lock must be “broken” before the blade can be folded slowly in the handle.
The Saint Martin is part of the central France style of knife, along with the Issoire, Yssingeaux or Laguiole.
The big difference is that this knife was not popular among the rural people but popular with the clergy.
Monks and priests liked its fineness to sharpen geese feathers and make quill pens.
The knife follows the center France style with a bourbon blade, end of the handle in form of a crow beak and a smooth mouche and the end of the back spring.
The laguiole is probably the most famous French knife and its history and origin are full of legends and inaccuracies.
I will try here to be as accurate and factual as possible.
As almost every French regional knife, the laguiole gets its name from the eponym city, in the Aubrac region.
The first cutlers registered in Laguiole arrived in the first part of the Nineteenth century.
At the time, it was small workshops where all the steps were made by a single cutler.
Straight Laguiole
The very first laguiole, called straight laguiole, was fairly similar to the other knives of the area like the Yssingeaux, Issoire or even Saint Martin, with a straight handle ending in a crow beak and a drop point blade, called Bourbon blade.
YssingeauxVintage Saint MartinVintage straight laguiole
It is somewhere between 1850 and 1860 that the laguiole in its modern form was invented by Pierre-Jean Calmels.
He replaced the Bourbon blade by a Yatagan blade (see my history of the Yatagan knife) and made a handle with the curve we know today.
Yatagan knife
Both straight and modern laguioles co-existed until early in the Twentieth century.
Modern interpretation of a straight laguiole by Arto
Towards the end of the Nineteenth century, part of the production was transferred to Thiers, the industrial hub, like a lot of other regional knives.
Vintage laguile by Poyet Sivet circa 1900
The very first decorated laguioles appear at the same time with a decorated mouche (top end of the spring) and file work on the spring.
At the 1900 Paris Exposition, Pagès and Calmels, both great names in the laguiole knives, received a gold medal for their knives.
Vintage laguiole by Pages
At the beginning of the Twentieth century, and the trend for gentlemen to carry a pocketknife, the decor of the knives get more refined with ivory handles in the shape of a pigeon wing, butterfly, rattlesnake tail or even mythical or historical figures like Napoleon.
Laguiole “pigeon wing”
The mouche sees also various shapes, including the famous bee.
With a lot or workers mobilized and large orders from the Army to Thiers, the first world war is the beginning of the decline of knife making in Laguiole, most of the production being made in Thiers.
Vintage Laguiole by Genes David in Thiers
The last Laguiole forge closed around 1950
Mid 1980’s was restarted a knifemaking activity in the city of Laguiole.
