The traditional LAGUIOLE style knife is born in the Laguiole village area (in the high plateau of Aubrac in the north Aveyron region, south of France).

It was inspired from the spanish knives (Navaja) that the local men used to bring back after working there during the winter time.

Since 1828, cutlers have been handcrafting the traditional knives with the following basic details:

• * an arche line
• * a folding form
• * a 1 to 3-pieces accessories:  a blade, with additional corkscrew and/or awl. The corkscrew is linked to the request of the people from Aveyron who left the department to conquer the Parisian coffees. For the awl, it was used in the agricultural sector mainly to pierce the rumen of animals.
• * an engraved symbol (traditionally a bee or a fly but it can be another design).
• * and possibly an engraved metal work along the back of the knife.

In any case, the traditional Laguiole knife is handmade in France, in the workshops located in Laguiole village or surrounding villages. In the Laguiole village itself there are 12 cutlers workshops. Some others are scattered in others villages such as Espalion, Montezic or Estaing. You can visit some of their workshops, boutiques and even a private museum of the Laguiole knife.

It would not be fair not to include also the Thiers city area (200 kms away) as a Laguiole knife manufacture place. Why this ? Because Thiers city is historically the French capital of the cutlery. And when the World War I decimated the men of the Laguiole village and impacted of course the manufacturing process, the Laguiole style knife was still manufactured in this city’s workshops during the following decades…

The trouble is that the Laguiole term is not a protected geographical brand. It became a generic term of a special type of knife. This matter of fact allowed all kind of distorsions, copies of more or less good quality, industrially produced, in France but also abroad (Asia, Pakistan…etc). In 1993, a French business man even registered the Laguiole name as a brand for its own diversified business…This why some of the traditional Laguiole manufacturers joined in a professional union (named Couteau de Laguiole). They are trying to protect the historical cutlery know-how of the Laguiole area by filing a legal request of Protected Geographical Indication (IGP in French). It is under process…

The traditional craft-men of the Laguiole knife also diversified its form and use : you can chose between folding knives, table knives, sommelier knives, artist and designers signatures, art cutlery…You even can choose the handle material, the symbol or metal work, make it engraved with your name… the sky is the limit (and your financial resources 🙂 !).

You can buy a traditional Laguiole knife in the workshops boutiques, on their own e-shops or in dedicated knives retailers. 3 Laguiole workshops also opened dedicated boutiques in Paris : Forge de Laguiole , Laguiole en Aubrac, and Laguiole Village.

And always remember : a traditional Laguiole knife hand made by a French craft-man always has the blade engraved with the workshop name (and the simplest model’s price begins at 90/100 euros). More than 100 steps are necessary to complete a Laguiole handcrafted kife.