A very unique review of
a "Laguiole de L'Artisan" knife (left us speechless!)
I will refrain from
referring to this cutting instrument as a knife. This, is a work of art, the
real deal, a Mona Lisa, a treasure! This is a "Laguiole". Truly hand made.
It does not look offensive or threatening. As pleasing to the eye as a
beautiful woman. Made for a gentleman. As polished as the Hubble telescope
mirror. Tighter than a new pair of shoes. The handle looks like it is fluid
filled and contoured perfectly for the hand. The blade in conjunction to the
handle is straighter than an arrow. The engraving looks so delicate that it
might slip off and break on the floor. The chiseled spring brings the piece
to life similar to a slithering snake. My 62 year old eyes have never
witnessed better. The Laguiole is perfect art.
Thank you, Fred.
RJ Smith - 9/4/2008
Please note that the guidelines bellow only
applies to the following high quality knives manufacturers offered by
Laguiole City:
Forge de Laguiole, Laguiole de L'Artisan and Laguiole en Aubrac.
Beware
of forgeries - Become a well-informed connoisseur.
Important fact to consider: Only two-manufacturer produce hand made
Laguiole knives for exports in the village of Laguiole, France. They are
La Coutellerie de Laguiole aka "Laguiole de L’Artisan" and "Les Forge
de Laguiole". Other very small shops make knives in the village, but
most of their business is from tourisms, and they do not export.
Ask for the manufacturer's name and address.
Find out if this Laguiole manufacturer is situated in the village of
Laguiole, some other city in France or an another country
What is this name and how can you tell a real "Laguiole" knife from a fake?
The word "Laguiole" is not a register trade mark or even a brand-name:
it is the name of a small village in the Aveyron region of France which
shares its name with a traditional style of knife. The Laguiole knife was
first created in the small village of Laguiole; this is a FACT, not a
legend, a myth, or a coincidence as many manufacturers and resellers alike
would like you to believe.
Although a few manufacturers in the city Thiers such as Fontenille
Pataud
offer very high quality Laguiole knives the ones made in the village of
Laguiole are, and for obvious reasons the most genuine.
Note: Some companies use hard-sell terms like "the genuine article",
but do give any details about the real background and quality of the product
they are trying to sell, or indeed whether or not they have even made it
themselves!
Saying " we’re making / selling the only genuine Laguiole knife, because we
print on the blade i.e.: a bull, a bird ...or any word is a lie.
Things to look for in a high quality Laguiole knife
If horn, must be "horn tip"!
This comes from the massive noblest part of the horn :
the tip. Small bars are cut from the horn and then fixed and worked directly
on the handle. It does not undergo heating constraint like pressed horn does
(cheap Laguiole knives). Horn tip is the tougher part of the horn.
Note: Only one knife can be made from one horn
tip.
Look for handle thickness and curves.
Hand-made handle are thicker with larger
curves and thus, more materials for a better grip.
Bolster.
Must be massive not hollow brass or
stainless steel bolsters.
Spring and bee.
Massive bee forged in one piece with the
spring AND hand-chiseled spring for all 10, 11cm and 12cm one-piece knives.
The Cutler chooses the chiseling. The massive bee has a blade stop to
prevent the knife edge from being damaged when closing the knife (except for
the three pieces knives). Shiny spring inside polished.
Careful finishing.
Precise and made-to-measure fitting of the handle with
the plates and bolster. High-performance mechanism (interaction of the
spring with the blade). Blade stop (the blade top does not contact with the
spring).
How can you tell a well-made knife from one of poor quality?
A particular brand-name engraved into the knife is no guarantee of
quality, nor is an expensive-looking style of packaging! Examine your
purchase carefully and ask the vendor about its qualities. If your vendor
knows his/her stuff, you'll find out all you want to know…
Genuine Laguiole knives are handcrafted in the small village of Laguiole and
it takes a long time to handcraft each article. That is why the price of
each Laguiole is high. If you see a Laguiole sold for a low price, that
means that it is industrially made. There are numerous imitations sold
everywhere.
Marketing ploys...
A good cutlery maker generally signs the knife with his/her name or
company logo.
This marking is on the blade of the knife: it may also come with a
certificate, or will at least clearly show the name of the cutler and the
place where it was made. An anonymous piece is not generally a good sign of
quality.
Remember! - Labels like "genuine", "best quality" etc. are not
necessarily a sign of quality!
More technical tips...
Judging the technical quality of the knife is harder if you're not used
to it, but checking it over carefully is a good idea anyway:
If the knife has a pleasing aesthetic appearance (without any plastic
embellishments!), "weighs" in the hand and has a nice feel to the grip,
you're on the way to buying a decent product. Look for the thickness and
solidity of all metal components including massive, and not hollow, bolsters
at the tips of the handle
Next, check that the blade opens easily and
that it is perpendicular to the spring (hold it up in front of you and
squint upwards along the length - you should see a straight line).
When you close the blade again, it should not knock or catch against the
base of the spring and should slide easily back into place.
The plates covering the sleeve of the knife should be
well-fitted. Check that there aren't any little spaces between the plates
and the bolsters corners (the metal edges at the top and tail of the knife),
which are a sign of a bad fit.
The decorated part of the spring should be well embedded in the crux of
the blade so that your finger doesn't catch on it when the knife is open.
The decoration of the spring should be slightly different on each knife,
even if they are of the same design - these small irregularities are a good
sign that the knife is hand-made.
It doesn't necessarily mean that the knife you want to buy is not a good
one if it doesn't check out against any of the above: but it does mean that
the knife isn't of the highest quality.
1-
Right side 2
- Top bolster
3 -
Maillechort nail
4 -
Lost nail 5
- Top bolster
6 -
Left plate
7 -
Left side 8
- Right plate
9 -
Maillechort nail
10 -
Bottom bolster 11
- Punch or bradawl
12 -
Spring
13 -
False piece 14
- Bottom bolster
And a
few more tips...
The knife should open and close with a nice "click" - this shows that
the calibration of the mechanism has been fine-tuned.
There should not be any sign of a sideways "shift" in the plane of the
blade.
The "fly" or "bee" motif should form an integral part of a spring which has
been "fly forged" and should be hand-chased , without any welding process.
Note that the "fly forged" knife is no longer a sign of the highest quality
manufacture because this method has been appropriated by foreign mass
manufacturers as a marketing technique. Look carefully for the other signs
we've mentioned here.
Logo!
The logo of the manufacturer will be engraved on the blade of
traditional Laguiole folding knives and straight-bladed table crafts.
The Shepherd's Cross!
The Shepherd's Cross-, a legend in itself, must appear on the handle of
the knife for all materials. The Cross is composed of six small brass rivets
inserted into the handle and laid out in the shape of a cross. This applies
to all traditional Standard and Prestige Laguiole knives. And, guess what?
They haven't found a machine capable of reproducing the Cross. It is time
consuming and is done by hand only.
One man, one knife!
Our Laguiole knives workmanship respects the ancestral tradition of the
original Laguiole knives. It takes over 100 operations for a Laguiole knife
with blade only to be completed.
Our knives are manufactured from A to Z by the same cutler.
When a set of knife is finished, the foreman controls
its quality, erase the imperfections and then the knives are polished and
labeled.
In mass production men's role is reduced to the lowest degree.
Factory tasks are fragmented, the knife goes from one unskilled-worker to
the other, each of whom does one operation before he / she passes the knife
on to the next worker this result in the nonexistence of ownership and pride
for the finish product.
Mass-production goes along with outputs and thus the cutler's skill is
replaced by numerically controlled machines. Some "bargain" Laguiole knives
are manufactured in Asia in sweatshop conditions and by Children.
Last but not least!
The country of origin must be engraved on the blade, right above the
upper tip of the handle.
Request a complete guarantee allowing you to exchange the product or obtain
a full refund.
Do business with people that are able and available to answer all of your
questions.
Call now for expert advice!
888-800-2951
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