Laguiole Art Deco pocket knife with aluminum handle

The story of the Laguioles has been passed down to us for years through the tales and legends that circulate among the rural communities of Aubrac and the blacksmiths who traveled through the region. Once upon a time... 

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

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

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

- The Shepherd's Cross, a decoration known as the "croix de berger" consisting of small metal pins on a handle, was once used by shepherds for a quick prayer while keeping watch over their grazing animals during dangerous nights. It must consist of exactly seven small pins; otherwise, it is not authentic, as it symbolizes the days of the week.

- The fly on the knife is not actually a fly, but Napoleon’s heraldic animal: a bee. The Emperor granted the blacksmiths of Laguiole the right to depict his heraldic animal on their knives only because they had fought with particular valor in his battles...

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

Nevertheless, we should savor stories like those that enrich the world of Laguiole, for no other knife has been the subject of so many tales. And France boasts more than 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 forge; the blacksmith Jean-Pierre Calmels, who is said to have invented the knife in 1828, did not set up shop there 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 has never been entirely clear how a very young blacksmith like Pierre-Jean Calmels (according to the 1828 account), aged only 16, could have “invented” a knife with such perfect lines. So not a seasoned blacksmith with artisanal experience or an experienced craftsman with design expertise? The knife is said to have been created immediately in its final, finished form, developed from a structurally different Navaja and a fixed dagger, the Capuchadou? Without any intermediate stages of development? This leaves experienced designers and cutlers in doubt. 
- Napoleon’s bee in the department. Napoleon was deposed in 1815, and with his deposition and exile, all his insignia had to be destroyed (see the rediscovery of the Napoleon theme), 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 himself the same questions, devoted nine years to researching the history and evolution of Laguiole knives and their forge, and published his findings in 2010 in the book *The History of the Laguiole Knife*. As part of his research, he was able to consult far more than just documents from public archives. He had access to private archives, notably those of certain deceased blacksmiths from Laguiole and Thiers, whose families had preserved the original documents. The results of his work allow him to reconstruct the history of Laguiole on a sound scientific basis.
For anyone wishing to read the full history: we provided expert and advisory support for the German translation by Thomas Mößer for Wieland-Verlag.