Laguiole knife

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The Laguiole knife is a high-quality traditional French pocket-knife, originally produced in the town of Laguiole in the Aveyron region of southern France. The design dates from the early 19th century.

The word "Laguiole", pronounced "la-yoll" (IPA /lajɔl/), is a generic term, not legally restricted to any one company or place of manufacture. Such knives are produced by a number of unrelated companies in southern France, some 70% of production coming from Thiers, a long-established centre of the cutlery industry. Thanks to their elegant and distinctive lines, as well as fine craftsmanship and expensive materials, they have achieved the status of a design classic and are sold for high prices, sometimes running into hundreds of dollars.

What the various designs have in common is their slim, sinuous outline, about 10 cm long when closed, with a narrow, tapered blade and a high quality of construction, typically using luxurious materials, such as exotic woods, cattle horn, ivory and damascus steel. Classically there is a single blade, but often a corkscrew or some other implement is added. This necessitates an even slimmer cutaway handle, the shape of which is fancifully known as the "lady's leg", the bolster at the base resembling a foot.

a close-up of the distinctive Laguiole bee

Usually the catch is fashioned to resemble a bee, the right to use this imperial symbol being said to have been granted by Napoleon, though others say the design actually represents a cattle fly, linking the knife with the stockmen who were its first users.

Intricate decoration is a characteristic feature of Laguiole knives. Typically, the spring which forms the spine of the knife is finely tooled; this and the catch also provide opportunities for personalised touches. Often a design known as the "Shepherd's Cross" is picked out in contrasting rivets on the handle.

There are about 100 production steps for a one-piece knife, and twice that for a three-piece model.

a set of Laguiole utensils

The prestigious Laguiole iconography has been taken up as a visual theme for various other implements, so that one can now buy, for example, a "Laguiole" corkscrew, spoon or steak-knife set.

External links

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