The Thiers knife

Le Thiers
Le Thiers logo

As seen in a previous post, Thiers has been the French knife making capital for centuries.

Cutlers from the city and its surrounding were so famous and efficient that they ended up manufacturing the so called “regional knives”, the knives from different regions and cities of France like the Aurillac, the Laguiole, the Rouennais, the Yssingeaux etc.

All those knives have specific design and style originally elaborated in those regions.

However, Thiers, filled with cutleries and making all those different knives, never had its own knife style. This was solved in 1994, when several cutleries from Thiers created a guild to define a design for a knife belonging to Thiers.

The design is registered with a distinctive double wave and opposite oblique ends on each side of the handle giving a timeless and true to French tradition design.

Le Thiers top bottom handle
Le thiers double oblique

More than a detailed design, it is a set of rules and guidelines, giving some room for each cutler’s interpretation.

But to be validated and receive the distinctive T logo, symbol of authenticity, each cutler has to follow the guild rules.:

  • Having at least 5 years of experience as a cutler
  • The cutler must be accepted as part of the guild and registered
  • The design proposed has to be accepted by the guild
  • The knife has to be marked with the T logo and “Le Thiers par…” including the name of the manufacturer.
  • The cutler will never have any part of the manufacturing done outside of Thiers and its surrounding.
  • The parts and raw materials used must be of quality and approved by the guild.
T logo
Le Thiers parts

This origin control is important to protect the knife from Asian copies, something that, for instance, the Laguiole knife was lacking, reason why you can find countless cheap copies of this great knife.

Le Thiers olive wood
Le THiers gentleman

What started as a project from a handful of passionate knife-makers turned into a real success with almost 60 manufacturers and independents making their version of the knife.

Le Thiers Coursolle
Le Thiers by Coursolle with brass sides
Le Thiers Dozorme
Le Thiers by Claude Dozorme
Le Thiers Arbalete
Le thiers by Arbalete
Le Thiers R. David
Le Thiers by Robert David
Le Thiers Dubost
Le Thiers by Jean Dubost
Le Thiers Ramos
Le Thiers by Fernando Ramos
Le Thiers Cognet
Le Thiers by Cognet

If you are looking for French elegance and controlled quality and origin, look for the T logo!

Find some on http://knives-of-france.com

Napoleon knife

Soanen Mondanel was a big name in knife making in Thiers, the French capital, if not European, of knife making. It was famous in the 18th and 19th century for its brass handled motif knives representing artists or political figures

One of those knives was embossed with Napoleon, standing with, as usual, his hand in his waistcoat, with his seal and the French Imperial eagle, probably to celebrate his coronation as emperor in 1804.

After Napoleon was deposed and exiled to Saint Helena in 1815, the Bourbons were reinstated as royal family and Louis XVIII declared king. One of his acts to gain back control and erase Napoleon’s influence was to ban all the Napoleonic symbols.

Soanen Mondanel had to stop manufacturing their Napoleon knives but didn’t want to destroy the molds, maybe hoping that the emperor would be back. After all, he already came back from his first exile in Elba. The molds were buried next to the shop.

But Saint-Helena was probably remote enough and Napoleon never came back, the molds were forgotten.

In 1902, Antoine Cognet purchased the manufacture and gave it his name.

Today it is Pierre Cognet, his grand-son, who is running the factory. In 2005 the factory underwent renovations and the molds were discovered. After restoration, the molds were ready for a knife re-edition.

It is where enters a second knife maker, Couperier-Coursolle, who is still today the specialist of the brass handles and figurative knives.

Figurative brass handled navette by Coursolle

The knife is an alliance of those two manufacturers, Couperier-Coursolle making the handle and Cognet the XC75 carbon steel blade.

To symbolize this collaboration, the blade is marked with the two emblems, Cognet’s hare and Coursolle’s adjustable wrench.

Last reference to the past, the production was limited to 1815 pieces, in reference to the year when Napoleon was, for the second time and definitely, deposed, and all his symbols banned.

When you have to abdicate and you know that your knife re-edition will be limited to 1815 pieces

Thiers, the French capital of knife making

Thiers early twentieth

The city of Thiers finds its origin in the medieval age and can claim six centuries of cutlery tradition.

The legend says that the Crusaders bring back the secret of steel but the history of knife making can be dated back to the fifteenth century as tax registers mention thirty knife makers in the city that will turn to be 200 in the sixteenth century.

Thiers valley

Oddly enough, the city didn’t have real assets to become the capital of knife making, there is no iron ore for the blades or sandstone to make grinding wheels, but there is the Durolle, the torrent that will provide enough energy for the cutlery machines, and the obstinacy and hard work of people living on a rocky, steep and hard territory, working in the fields in summer and making blades in winter.

Thiers knife making

Long before Henry Ford, it is in the fifteenth Century that the division of labor started in Thiers  with people specialized in the various steps of knife making, to the final assembly. It was not anymore a single cutler that was making the entire knife.

Knife assembly
Sauzede workshop

The working conditions were really hard. The cutlers shaping the blades on the grinding wheels were called the “yellow bellies”, because, in the unique Thiers style, they were grinding the blades laying over the wheel, with a dog on their legs to keep them warm.

They were working down in the valley, next to the water that was used to provide the power.

Yellow bellies Thiers

On top of the cold and humidity, the noise of the machines is loud and, if the grinding wheel explodes, the cutler is projected to the ceiling, with a little chance of survival.

Blade grinding

That part of the valley is called “Hell” (L’enfer in French), one of the buildings was even called like that.

L'enfer Hell Thiers
L’enfer (Hell)

For the other specialties it is not more comfortable, the presses and hammering machines are dangerous and the temperature in the forge can reach 120F.

knife making workshop

But that specialization and efficiency made that knife makers and merchants in various French regions were ordering knives to Thiers.

cutlery
Sauzede knife assembly

For instance, the cutlers from the village of Laguiole, in Aveyron, had to order knives in Thiers, as they were not able to keep up with the demand. Those knives were originally called “Laguiole style” before being definitively called Laguiole when all the production was finally done in Thiers.

Laguiole
Laguiole knife

The same story happened to different regions and cities, this is why most of the French knives have the name of a city or a region like Yssingeaux, Issoire, Alpin, Montpellier, Rouennais etc.

Yssingeaux
Yssingeaux
Rouennais
Rouennais
yatagan
Yatagan
Saint-Martin
Saint-Martin

Thiers even produced some “Spanish” navajas.

When the city was, and is still today, making the knives of all the different French regions, it never had its own style of knife. It was corrected rather late, in 1994, when “Le Thiers” was created. It will be the object of a later article.

Le Thiers
Le Thiers

Today electricity definitely replaced all the water powered machines and Thiers and its surroundings is still making between 70% and 80% of the French bladed tools, earning its status of French knife making capital, with its museum and “Coutellia”, the annual international blade show.

Find some examples of fine French cutlery on http://knives-if-france.com

Thiers knives

Palm knife

Ratchet lock palm knife

The “palm” ratchet-lock folding knife gets its name from the locking system on the back of the handle that has the shape of a palm leave (palme in French).

Nontron palm
Nontron palm knife

The system is actually inspired from the Spanish Navaja that gained, in the late 18th century, a locking style blade with a back spring and a metal pull ring to release the lock. These knives were called Navaja de Muelles (Spring Knifes). The ring was eventually discarded in favor of a lever, still present in today’s navajas.

This made that, until early in the 20th Century, the palm knives were sometimes called navaja in France. Those Spanish navajas were considered fighting knives, sometimes even prohibited, it is important to recall that for the rest of our story.

Vintage palm knife horn
used palm knife

The knife is in fact quite different from a navaja. It is a plain handle, in wood or horn, almost like a Capucin, with an external spring covering the back of the handle, including the ratchet-lock.

palm ratchet system
Palm knife wood
Palm knife horn

It is a simple, easy to produce, yet efficient locking system. The blade is often in a yatagan style.

Palm knife stag
Vintage palm knife stag

At the beginning of the 20th Century, this type of knife was popular, considered as a hunting knife, but in the pocket of many workers and farmers.

Extract from the Manufrance catalog showing the hunters knives
Large palm knife
Manufrance palm knife

When WW1 broke out in Europe, it completely changed the classic warfare and the trench battle style called for different tactics and equipment. Storming the enemy trench with a long rifle fitted with a long bayonet was not always convenient and feedback from the front line requested a knife for hand-to-hand combat.

The soldier equipment did not include a knife and the war ministry sent delegates to manufactures, mainly in Thiers, to find a suitable equipment.

The palm knife was selected, all the stocks were requisitioned and large orders placed. So much that even the cutleries from Nontron, specialized in ferrule (ring lock) knives, started to produce palm knives.

In September 1915, more than 46,000 of those locking knives have been delivered.

Military palm knife
Army palm knife
6.35mm and palm knife

However, and despite its fierce reputation in the navaja form as fighting knife, it was not adapted to the trench combat. The blade was a bit thin and the single pin to fix it made the ensemble too weak. Moreover, the handle was sleek and the knife did not have a cross-guard, making the thrust hits dangerous, especially with a handle covered in mud or blood.

Large palm knife

Eventually, the Army ordered simple butcher knives…

Trench butcher knife
Trench butcher knife with improvised sheath

Before developing specific designs.

Trench nail
Trench dagger or “trench nail”

The type was still popular until the mid 20th Century, before being replaced by lockbacks, liner-locks etc.

Palm knife parapluie
Palm knife Nogent
Ratchet lock knife Nogent

However, among others, the Nontron cutlery is still producing a knife remnant of those made by its ancestors, quite different from its traditional product line.

Nontron palm knife

Mongin, with its fabulous knives, is faithful to that system, in the Nogent tradition, even removing the ratchet lock to make it like a classic slip joint.

Mongin Palm knife
Mongin square

Despite the poor capabilities as a fighting knife, they remain nice and great utility knives with a genuine long history

Modern custom palm knife

Douk-Douk history

Douk-Douk sticker

The story of the Douk-Douk started more than 90 years ago, in 1929, when Gaspard Cognet, that everybody called “Gaston”, decided to target the Melanesian market with a new folding knife.

At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, Thiers was exporting its knives all over the world, especially in the vast French colonial empire. The MC Cognet was one of the biggest manufactures, and targeting the French islands in the Pacific Ocean seemed a good plan.

The knife was designed to be inexpensive and sturdy.

It is made of 6 parts, a carbon steel blade, a ferro-blackened folded sheet-metal handle, a strong spring nested inside the handle, a bail at the back and 2 rivets to assemble it all…  That’s it.

Douk-Douk parts

Gaston was looking for a commercial catch for his knife. This was long before Google and Wikipedia and it is in an illustrated dictionary that he found the picture of a local divinity, the Douk-Douk.

Douk-Douk divinity

The Duk-Duk (or Douk-Douk), sometimes called the god of chaos and doom, is an important figure in the Melanesian culture. The costume is made of a conical hat, a cylindrical mask made of bark, and palm tree leaves down to the knees. He goes screaming in the village, scaring people off, until he reaches the hut of the person suspected of a crime to deliver the punishment. Nobody dares going against him, as death would struck anyone who would raise his hand against the Duk-Duk.

Douk-Douk outfit vintage

The legend also gives him the power of healing. In this little character, looking like a mix between a pineapple and a fir, Gaston found his symbol. It was patented in 1930.

Douk-Douk ad

To complete his design, he opted for a Turkish clip / Scimitar style blade decorated with an electrochemical etching figuring arabesques, to give it a more exotic look.

The Melanesian market was a disaster and the stocks were redirected to other markets in the colonial empire. It finally met success in the French colonies of North Africa where people liked its low price and high quality blade, easy to sharpen, that was even sometimes used as a razor. From there it migrated to sub-Saharan Africa and even arrived in pygmy tribes.

Douk-Douk pygmy

It was carried by the French Foreign Legion and other Colonial troops and reached, with troops reassignment,  the middle-east through Lebanon, and South-East Asia through Indochina. In 1939 it became “the national pocket knife” of Algeria.

Vintage Douk-Douk
Douk-Douk knife vintage
Vintage Douk-Douk from before 1939

Different variants were created, with different blade shapes: clip point, drop-point or sheep-foot. Some models disappeared like “Le Lion”, “Le Saharien” or “Ed Dib”, all for the North African market. Some are still around like the “Tiki”, another attempt for the Polynesian market, or the “Baraka”, with its nickel-plated handle.

Cognet vintage product line
Douk-Douk le lion
Douk-Douk Baraka
Douk-Douk Tiki vintage

It was so famous (and easy to make) that it also had countless copies.

Douk-Douk copy
Douk-Douk Kama
A copy called Kama

The Douk-Douk gained its infamous killer reputation during the Algerian independence war. Largely available, with a sharp blade and flat enough to be easily concealed it was the perfect weapon. Once open, you can just hammer the two ears at the base of the blade to change it into a fierce fixed blade, ready to stab any private or officer who would dare to enter the Casbah.

Douk-Douk detail
Douk-Douk Algeria

It was so dangerous that the DST (French counter-intelligence) considered it as military equipment, banned its exportation to Algeria and seized the existing stocks. Those seized knives were then given to the troops as a utility knife.

Douk-Douk wild

In 1962, at the Algerian independence, the repatriated troops and civilians bring back the Douk-Douk to France, where it was unknown, and built up its reputation.

Douk-Douk close-up
Douk-Douk blade
Douk-Douk France

Today the knife is still produced using almost the same process and tools. Only concession to modernity, some models are fitted with a stainless steel blade, but the most appreciated remains the historical carbon steel.

A great pocket knife with a rich history!

Find some on http://knives-of-france.com

Douk-Douk knife

Opinel history

Everything started at the beginning of the 19th century when Victor-Amédée Opinel decided to install a forge in the little town of Gevoudaz, Savoie, in the French Alps.

He is an edge-tool maker and makes nails, axes, plow blades and various types of blades thanks to the Arvan, the rapid stream running there and that provides the energy for the forge tools.

Joseph Opinel, Victor-Amédée’s grandson, continues in the family business with his father but he has the idea to make folding knives for the local farmers and workers.

Opinel prototype

The city of Thiers was already very famous for its knives at the time and Joseph decided to go there and learn about knife making.

Some 130 years ago, in 1890, and against his father’s will, Joseph Opinel creates his first folding knife, with a wooden handle that would “fit perfectly in hand” and a steel blade “efficient, precise and elegant”. The famous folding knife was born.

Vintage Opinel knife

One of the technical issue was the handle, cutting the handle in half all the way to the end would have make it weak, Joseph created a circular saw that was removing just enough material.

In 1896, 3 workers work in the factory and make 60 knives per day.

In 1897 Joseph creates the range of Opinel from No1 to No13. The No1 is used to clean the smoking pipe, the No13 is used to cut large pieces of meat, but the most famous, until today, are the No7 and No8

Opinel vintage product line

Each knife has a wood handle made of beechwood or cherrywood and a carbon steel blade in the yatagán style (a slight clip-point).

Opinel carbon blade

The crowned hand was stamped on the blades from the first models, as, since King Charles IX, every master knife maker had to put his mark as a guarantee of origin and quality. The three fingers representing the relics of Saint Jean-Baptiste that are part of the coat of arms of the city of Saint-Jean-De-Maurienne. The crown was a reference to the duchy of Savoy that was independent from France until 1860.

Opinel advertisement

In 1901, Joseph creates the first Opinel factory, nearby his first workshop and install the 1st machine to manufacture the handles. 15 cutlers are working at the factory.

Opinel Joseph
Joseph Opinel

In 1911, Opinel receives the gold medal at the Alpine International Show in Turin, The first international recognition for the pocketknife.

Opinel vintage seller

In 1915, Joseph moves the factory to a new facility in Cognin, next to Chambery and close to roads and railroads, the town of Gevoudaz didn’t even have a paved way.

Opinel vintage cutlery

Joseph relied on the train engineers to sell his products throughout France, taking advantage of the Railroads’ strong territorial coverage.

Vintage Opinel business

In 1939, the Opinel No1 and No11 are discontinued.

In 1955, Marcel, Joseph’s son, invents the ring lock, called virobloc, allowing to lock the blade open. This locking ring will be modified again a bit before 2000 to lock the blade closed.

Opinel virobloc

In 1973, the factory moves again, to Chambery

Opinel presentation

In 1985 is another recognition for the Opinel. It is nominated by the London Arts and Science Museum as one of the 100 best designs of the world, along with the Porsche 911 or the Rolex watch.

Opinel product line

In 1986 are introduced Stainless steel blades.

Opinel inox stainless

In 2006, the Opinel is nominated by Phaidon Design classic as part of the 999 most perfect designs.

Opinel parts
An Opinel is made of only 5 parts

The brand is still alive because it has always been heavily protected with patents on the name, the logo, the virobloc system… This protected it from the Chinese and Pakistani’s competition that hit the industry pretty hard, starting in the 80’s. The famous Laguiole, that was lacking those kind of protection, was heavily copied.

Opinel is now a common noun in the French dictionary, Pablo Picasso used it to sculpt, the explorer Jean-Louis Etienne and navigators Eric Tabarly and Ellen McArthur took it in their adventures and the famous chef Paul Bocuse always kept it in his pocket.

Today, 130 years after the first design, the Opinel is still faithful to its legacy and really appreciated for its quality, ruggedness, style… and cheap price.

Find some variations of the Opinel on http://knives-of-france.com

Opinel wild
Opinel custom
Custom No8 by Chaperon
Opinel carbon product line

French knifemaking history

History

The history of French knife making is primarily the history of the people living in the different regions of France.

The very first knives were made of flint, the first metallic knives appeared around 3000BC and the first steel knives, along with the first folding knives, were made by the Romans.

During the medieval-age, knife making is developing mainly in some specialized cities like Thiers, Nogent or Nontron, where the ferrule, or ring lock (virole), to lock the knife’s blade, is invented towards the end of the 16th century. Each region has its own craftsmanship and traditions, leading to a wide variety of styles, still made today.

Vintage Laguiole
Vintage Issoire
Vintage Laguiole carbon

Raw materials to make the knives evolved over time, when a Capucin was only a carbon steel blade, a stag and 2 pins; wood, bone, brass and aluminum or even more noble materials are now common. The very first stainless steel knife appeared in 1921 in the United States and stainless is now widely used but carbon steel is still appreciated by real connoisseurs for being easier to sharpen, more traditional and developing a nice patina.

French knife
Vintage Pradel
Opinel pair
Thiers French knife

French knife making have been renowned since the 17th century, when the first knives were exported, through the ports of Bordeaux or Nantes, to Spain, Italy and even Asia.

Vintage Laguiole pigeon
French filework

The industry was at its height in the 19th Century when, for example, Thiers and its area was employing around 25,000 people in knife making. It went down to around 1,700 today.

The 19th Century was also the time of a wider market for pocket knives, that were not anymore only for farmers and workers, as every gentleman had his own knife, to use when going to eat outside. That is when knives became more detailed and luxurious and when more noble material appeared.

After a rough patch in the 1980’s, mainly due to the cheap knives coming from Asia, French knife making has now reborn and is more oriented towards high quality pieces.

Luxury Laguiole
Le Thiers bone
Laguiole Damascus

Each region has its own style of knife and numerous independent knife makers are creating a wide variety of forms and styles. French knife making is now recognized across the world for its quality, diversity and strong tradition. Some knife makers even export up to 70% of their production.

Arbalete French Knife
Aurillac knife
French navette
Traditional French knife Rouennais
Capuchadou
Traditional French knife Roquefort
French camp knife
Basque traditional French Knife
Saint Martin traditional French knife
Corse knife
Issoire French knife
Traditional sheepfoot French
Ratchet lock knife
Yssingeaux Traditional French knife

Today Thiers, in the middle of the old volcanoes of Auvergne, is leading the French production with 80% of the production done by 60% of the knife makers. Then comes Aveyron, Dordogne, with the Nontron and of course Savoie with its famous Opinel.

Wood navette knife
Violon French knife
Damascus opinel

If you like slipjoints, tradition and fine craftmanship, there is a French knife for you!

Find some French cutlery on http://knives-of-france.com