Laguiole en Aubrac Corkscrews

The first Laguiole knives were inspired by the Arabo-Hispanic knife, the Navaja. Local men who migrated to Spain in winter as pit-sawyers brought this knife back as souvenirs. Local cutlers and tinkers blended the Navaja with a local knife of the time, the Capouchadou, thus creating what came to be known as the Laguiole.

This humble farmer’s knife was first created in 1829, in Laguiole, a small mountain village of the Aveyron, in southwestern France. The bee decorating the spring plate would eventually become the prestigious symbol of France’s most celebrated knife.

There are 109 production steps for a one-piece Laguiole en Aubrac knife, 166 for a two-piece and 216 for a three-piece model. Let’s have a closer look at the path of the raw materials in a craftsman’s hands. This long process is what distinguishes true craftsmanship from mass production, and guarantees the unique qualities of each knife.

The first Laguiole knives had handles made of bone or horn, the materials most available at the time. Although this material provides a wide range of natural colors and patterns, one should note that there is a great difference in quality between the material taken from the tip of the horn (cow horn tip), and the lower hollow section (pressed horn). The solid horn from the tip displays a much finer, more nuanced and harmonious pattern than horn taken from the softer, more fragile lower section..