In Laguiole, at the beginning of the last century, a new knife originated. It was a rustic blend of the Spanish "navaja" and the "capuchadou", the modest dagger of the Aubrac peasants. And because it was the ironsmiths of Laguiole who created it in their imagination and forged it with their hands, the knife took it’s name from its birthplace and was christened the "Laguiole" (pronounce It "Lie-Yull" if you want to be taken seriously!). Famous today all over the world, for all those who like what is simple, useful, real, beautiful, the "Laguiole" has become a veritable cult-objet.

At "Forge de Laguiole", the steel blades are forged, stamped, flattened, hardened, honed, burnished and sharpened to the demanding "Laguiole" standards. They are fitted on to the plates of the handles which are made of horn or precious woods. They are joined to the bolsters, to the springs marked with the famous fly-bee, to the prickers, to the corkscrews, just as the tradition demands.

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Forge de Laguiole is the maker of authentic Laguiole knives made in town of Laguiole. The company is both a brand and a legend, a maker of functional, everyday objects of folk-art. Designers such as Philippe Starck, Eric Raffy and Hèrmes have combined their imagination and creativity with the historical forms and shapes of Laguiole knives to create new expressions and variations carrying the traditions of Laguiole into the new century.

The huge blade designed by Philippe Starck, rising out of the roof of the "Forge de Laguiole" factory, seems to cut through the clouds and draw in the Aveyron sky the capital "L" which is the signature found on all knives manufactured here. Today, Forge of Laguiole, with its factory designed by Philippe Starck and directed by Gérard Boissins, has a team of 100 salaried employees, every one dedicated to continuing and improving the traditions of craftsmanship handed down from father to son in Laguiole.

Laguiole Origine Garantie, affixed to every model made by FORGE DE LAGUIOLE, assures the origin, quality and traditional manufacture of each knife. This mark, registered in 1991 by the association "Le Couteau de Laguiole" can only be used on knives made by traditional methods in the canton of Laguiole.

More than simply decoration, the insect on the spine of each Laguiole knife is its very essence. Whether bee or fly, and there is ample evidence for both, this insignia binds each knife to the town of its birth – Laguiole and only Laguiole. If it is a bee, it is almost certainly an imperial bee awarded for loyal service to the citizens of Laguiole region by Napoleon the First in the early 1800s. If, on the other hand, it is a fly that rests on the spine of Laguiole knives, it represents the flies which torment cows and sheep, and the men who tend them, during the Aubrac summers. But whether bee or fly, the only real Laguioles are those designed, forged and hand-made here in Laguiole, the town of their birth.

Enduring Tradition
From generation to generation, friend to friend, in exchange for a coin so as not to "cut off" a friendship, the Laguiole is passed on, offered, kept, and with it an entire memory, whole and vivid, goes from pocket to pocket, from one imagination to another... For more information, you can visit the following..

www.laguiole.com | www.forge-de-laguiole.com

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