Laguiole Art Deco pocket knife with aluminum handle

The story of the Laguioles has been told to us for years in the fairy tales and legends that circulate among the rural population of Aubrac and how they brought the blacksmiths into circulation. 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 because of its slender lines, elegance and balanced proportions. 

- the Laguiole is a cross between the Capuchadou dagger common in Aubrac and a knife native to Spain called Navaja, which the traveling traders discovered and brought back with them on their travels.

- some say that real pocket knives that fold up, i.e. with a compartment in the back, did not exist until then. The invention of the modern pocket knife was an invention of the blacksmiths in Laguiole.

- the Croix Berger, the decoration called a shepherd's cross made of small metal pins on the handle, was once used by the shepherds for a quick prayer when they watched the dangerous nights with the animals in the pasture. It must consist precisely of 7 little nails, otherwise it is not real, because it symbolizes the days of the week.

- the fly on the resort is not a fly, but Napoléon's heraldic animal, a bee. The Emperor only granted the blacksmiths in Laguiole the right to depict his heraldic animal on their knives, because they had fought particularly bravely in his battles...

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

Nevertheless, we should enjoy stories like the ones that embellish the world of Laguioles, because no other knife is told so frequently about them. And France has over sixty different traditional pocket knives! Some younger, but some much older than the Laguiole.

In addition to the legends, we can also get to know the historically correct story with the exact dates as it has recently become known:

- 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, only settled here 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 intermediate steps in development? This leaves experienced designers and knife makers in doubt. 
- Napoleon's bee in the department. Napoléon was deposed in 1815 and with his deposition and banishment all of his insignia had to be destroyed (see the rediscovery of the subject Napoléon), and it was forbidden under punishment to continue using his insignia, including his heraldic animal, the bee . Napoléon died in 1825. The first blacksmiths settled in Laguiole in 1828 and the first original Laguioles were created around 1850 as we know today... 
Christian Lemasson is a historian and ethnographer. He lives in Aubrac near Laguiole and in Thiers. Coming from a family of Couteliers, 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 view more than just the documents in public archives. He was given access to private archives, including archives of some defunct blacksmiths in Laguiole and Thiers, whose families had kept the original documents. The results of his work allowed him to reconstruct the history of Laguiole on a secure scientific basis.
For anyone who would like to read the story in its entirety: we provided expert and advisory support for the German translation for Wieland-Verlag by Thomas Mößer.