The topic of the Laguiole knife has been bouncing around our comment section for a little while now, and Cmeat mentioned a post I made back at TTAK about this iconic French pattern. Hocky sent me a picture of one of his that I beleive he picked up at a Pawn Shop for the Peddler’s Bag.
Back then I wrote two pieces – one was a “Know Your Knives” about the pattern, and the other was a review of the Laguiole Honoré Durand model that they had sent me.
It is an Olive-wood handled example, and it lived in our wicker picnic set until it was displaced by another example which I acquired from the widow of Knife World Founder Houston Price. It is bone handled, and is now the basket’s resident as it has a corkscrew and foil punch.
This example is from an unknown maker, being stamped simply “Laguiole” (it is the one on the top, my Durand is the bottom)
Since both my original post and the review are lost to the ether, I dove into various “History” sections of Laguiole makers and synthesized the following general history of the pattern, with photographic illustration from my two knives.
The Laguiole knife, an iconic symbol of French craftsmanship, originated in the early 19th century in the village of Laguiole, located in the Aubrac region of Aveyron, France. Around 1829, local blacksmith Pierre-Jean Calmels designed the first Laguiole knife. The company bearing his name remains today – Coutellerie J. Calmels
Calmels blended the local “capuchadou”—a simple, fixed-blade peasant knife—with the Spanish navaja, a folding knife with a locking mechanism introduced by seasonal workers from Catalonia. This fusion created a practical, elegant folding knife with a distinctive sweeping blade and a slender, curved handle, ideal for shepherds and farmers.
Initially known as the “Laguiole droit” (straight Laguiole), the knife featured a forced-notch system and a “fly” (mouche) for blade stability. By 1840, an awl was added for treating livestock, and in 1880, a corkscrew appeared, catering to urban wine culture as Aveyronnais migrated to Paris cafes. The bee, often mistaken as a Napoleonic symbol, became a decorative hallmark post-World War II, though earlier knives featured varied motifs.
Aside from the “bee” on the backspring, the other major motif common is a cross of pins in the handle.This secondary decoration may encompass a structural pin as well, as seen in my two examples.
It is a potentially apocryphal tale, as most examples of the cross date, like the bee, to post-WWII production. However, local legend says that the shepherd’s cross was used during long periods tending livestock, where they would stick their knives into the ground or bread to create an impromptu prayer cross, reflecting their resourcefulness and faith. Artisans incorporated this motif into the knife’s design as a tribute to this practice, blending functionality with cultural heritage.
The knife’s popularity surged, but by the early 20th century, industrial production in Thiers, France’s cutlery capital, overshadowed Laguiole’s artisanal workshops, which nearly vanished after World War I. In 1987, local enthusiasts revived traditional production in Laguiole, emphasizing handcrafted quality and history. There are dozens of makers now, as a simple web search will show you. One can get lost in the spectrum of purely functional to downright artistic, with myriad examples at any level desired.
If you have a Laguiole knife you would like to share, email a photo to clay(at)knifemagazine.com. I will add a gallery of reader examples below, starting once again with Hocky’s…
Read the full article here