Laguiole Art Deco pocket knife with aluminum handle

The story of the Laguioles has been passed down to us for years through the fairy tales and legends that circulate among the rural people of Aubrac, and how they came to be associated with blacksmiths. Once upon a time… 

- In 1828, a young blacksmith named Pierre-Jean Calmels created a knife that soon became the most popular knife in France thanks to its slender lines, elegance, and balanced proportions. 

- The Laguiole is a hybrid of the Capuchadou dagger, common in Aubrac, and a knife native to Spain called the Navaja, which traveling merchants discovered and brought back with them from their travels.

- Some say that true folding pocket knives—that is, those with a compartment in the back—did not exist until then. The modern pocket knife was invented by the blacksmiths of Laguiole.

- The Croix Berger, a decoration known as a shepherd's cross made of small metal pins on the handle, was once used by shepherds for a quick prayer while they kept watch over their animals in the pasture during dangerous nights. It must consist of exactly seven small nails; otherwise, it is not authentic, as it symbolizes the days of the week.

- The symbol on the resort isn't a fly, but Napoleon's heraldic animal: a bee. The Emperor granted the blacksmiths of Laguiole the exclusive right to depict his heraldic animal on their knives because they had fought with particular bravery in his battles...

All of this flatters the narrator and is charming, but has nothing to do with the historical truth as we know it today.

Nevertheless, we should enjoy stories like those that bring the world of Laguiole knives to life, because no other knife is the subject of so many tales. And France has over sixty different traditional pocket knives! Some are newer, but others are much older than the Laguiole.

In addition to the legends, we can also learn the historically accurate account with the exact dates, as it has recently come to light:

- The first blacksmith shop founded in the village of Laguiole in 1828 was the Moulin blacksmith shop; the blacksmith Jean-Pierre Calmels, who is said to have invented the knife in 1828, did not settle here until a year later, in 1829, at the same time as the blacksmith Glaize. In the years that followed, other blacksmiths settled in Laguiole.
- For many, it was never quite understandable that a very young blacksmith like Pierre-Jean Calmels (according to the story in 1828), at the age of only 16, should have “invented” a knife with such perfect lines. So not a seasoned blacksmith with craftsmanship experience or an experienced craftsman with design know-how? The knife is said to have been created immediately in its finished, final form, developed from a Navaja—which is structurally different—and a fixed dagger, the Capuchadou? Without any intermediate steps in development? This leaves experienced designers and knife makers in doubt. 
- Napoleon’s bee in the department. Napoleon was deposed in 1815, and with his deposition and banishment, all of his insignia had to be destroyed (see the rediscovery of the subject Napoleon), and it was forbidden under penalty of law to continue using his insignia, including his heraldic animal, the bee. Napoleon died in 1825. The first blacksmiths settled in Laguiole in 1828, and the first original Laguiole knives, as we know them today, were created around 1850...
Christian Lemasson is a historian and ethnographer. He lives in Aubrac near Laguiole and in Thiers. Coming from a family of cutlers, he asked the same questions, spent 9 years researching the history and evolution of Laguiole knives and his forge, and published his research in 2010 in the book L'HISTOIRE DU COUTEAU DE LAGUIOLE. As part of his research, he was able to access more than just the documents in public archives. He was granted access to private archives, including those of some defunct blacksmiths in Laguiole and Thiers, whose families had preserved the original documents. The results of his work enabled him to reconstruct the history of Laguiole on a sound scientific basis.
For anyone who would like to read the story in its entirety: we provided expert and advisory support for the German translation published by Wieland-Verlag and authored by Thomas Mößer.