French regional knives

The french traditional knife our grandfather used to carry is part of our history.
It links us to our childhood home.

BRETAGNE

The Kenavo

The fish knife, so called because of shape of the handle, has been well-known in Brittany since the 19th century.
The metal plate behind the handle was used for pushing tobacco down into pipes.
The handle is made of wenge, a wood which is resistant to sea water.

The Armor
This Sailor's knife is inspired by english knives.
The "Sailor' s rope knife" and the "sway back jack".
It has been manufactured in Thiers since 1850.
It is also called London because of its origin but it is also called Gabier, Terreneuvas.
Its characteristic is a round blade in the shape of a sheepfoot.
It was the only knife permitted on board, as it was considered less dangerous if sailors started brawling.
The blade had to be so shaped to cut the ropes with one swoop with the help of a wooden or metal toggle.

THE MEDITERRANEAN

Saint Guilhem 
The village of Saint Guilhem le Désert is a jewel in the south of France. The special feature of this knife, designed by Pierre Yves Javel, is its rounded lines. A somewhat unusual shape for a knife! Yet it echoes perfectly the soothing calm of this Mediterranean haven of peace.

Le Roquefort
Please note the special funnel-like shape of the bolster, which makes it very convenient to handle. This knife is a tool mainly used by the cheese-makers of Roquefort. It is specially designed for removing the rind on cheese rounds during the maturing phase.

LIMOUSIN

The Saint-Martin
Le Saint-Martin is one of the rare knives whose origins do not come for the countryside.
Churchmen used it a lot in the 19th century.
Highly appreciated by the clergy, this small straight knife was used to sharpen the goose-feathers they used as quills.

ALSACE

The Massu
The Massu also called the Alsatian Nixdorf.
From the same family : ''The Boer''.
From an Anglo-Saxon origin, this knife is called Massu in Thiers et Serpentine Jack in the U.S.A. because of its twisted handle.

ILE DE RE

The Retha
Sturdy knife from the Ile de Ré for sailors and islanders.
The shape and the grinding of the blade provide for a perfect cut, and the curved design of the handle make for a comfortable feel in the hand.
Designed by D. Charbonel and Luc Normand (From St-Martin de Ré). The two friends wanted to give Ré island its own knife.
It is a contemporary knife

AUVERGNE

The Thiers
This french traditional knife is the fruit of the collaboration between the cutlers from Thiers, the capital of French cutlery, and bears its name. 

"Couté de Thié" brotherhood (Thiers Cutlers), originally founded in 1582, produced a charter of quality for knife-making.
Inspectors verify that this charter is still respected in today's production.

The Yssingeaux
The Yssingeaux or Bourbonnais can be found in the 19th century in Auvergne, Velay, Ardèche, and even in Picardie.
Its principal characteristic is the bodkin.
The crow-bill shape of the handle comes from the older knives

ALPES

The Alpine
The Alpine also called the Savoyard, the Alpine, the Mountaineer.
It appeared more than 100 years ago, with the Opinel Knife.
Which one inspired the other ?
It is typical of the Alps because it can be found in Italy the Piemontais knife.

AQUITAINE

The Saint Amand (or Saint-amans, Saint- Amant)
Its origin come from Saint-Amans-des-Cots in Aveyron. It is made in Thiers since the end of the 19° century.
It is the traditional knife of the farmers from Aquitaine.
Its blade recalls the first willow-leaf shaped flints, used in the Neolithic age.
The curved handle is adorned with three prominent rosettes.


The Aquitain
The knife is the symbol of the Aquitaine region.
It was created in 2004 by Didier Charbonnel based on a prototype by Laurent Guillard,
living in Aquitaine at the request of the Regional Council of Aquitaine.
It became the emblematic knife of this area.

RHÔNE/ARDECHE

The Ardéchois
The knife with the faithful heart.
The faithful heart, device of the Ardeche people is engraved on the blade of the knife.
This knife was created by Jean-Jacques Astier cutler in Ardeche.
It is a contemporary knife..



The Rhodanien
The robust knife of the Rhone area
Its origin comes from the Drome river valley craftsmen.
Its robustness made the ideal instrument of the craftsmen.
It was created in 1999 by Didier Charbonnel as a tribute to his  grandfather.

VERCORS

The Vercors
The Mont Aiguille, one of the mythical places in the Vercors, is engraved on the springhead of this beautiful knife, which is fully 'guilloché'.
The Vercors was designed in 2001 by François Nocca, for his beautiful area.
The long blade (10cm), with central point, make this knife particularly tough.

BASQUE COUNTRY

The pilgrim's Knife
The pilgrim's knife is a replica of a knife which was sold to the pilgrims along the way to Santiago de Compostela in the early 19th century.
This original knife has been redesigned (forged spring, thickness of its blade, its shape), to become a reliable rustic knife.
The story of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela began in 820 with the discovery of the grave of St-James the Great at Iria Flavia in Galicia.
In 834, King Alphonso II ordered to raise a shrine over the grave in order to honour the saint.

The Basque Yatagan 
Yatagan was originally a Turkish word, Yataghan, meaning a sabre with a curved and slanted blade.
Nowadays, in the Western Pyrenees, all that is left of the Turkish origin is the shape of the blade.
This knife was used by shepherds and peasants who grew tobacco.
When the plant was cut, the sticky sap would run down the knife.
So that the hand wouldn't slip off the handle, it was decorated with 10 rosette-like studs, which are not always found on the today's knives.

PROVENCE

The Provençal
It is a contemporary knife.
Nature has offered iron-ore, olive-trees, sun and cicadas' song.
A cutler who loved his country very much combined all these elements to create the Provencal.

CORSE

The Vendetta
This knife dates back to the end of the 19th Century.
It was inspired by the Italian knives from Naples or Piedmont, but with an added Corsican flavour - its blade bears a revengeful inscription, a reference to the Mérimée novel 'Colomba' which takes place in Corsica.