Design Moment - Laguiole

A teenager’s cutting-edge idea began an artisanal and culinary French tradition that’s still on point after nearly two centuries.

- Chris Pearson

Growing up at his parents’ inn in Laguiole, southern France, young Pierre-Jean Calmels admired the sharp-looking knives belonging to the inn’s patrons. Especially the Spanish navaja, a folding knife with a slim, sinuous blade and handle, brought back from Catalonia by seasonal workers.

Calmels was keen to produce these stunners locally. In 1829, aged just 16, he approached his uncle, a blacksmith, with a plan to make knives inspired by the navaja and the local capuchadou farmer’s knife. His designs featured steel blades tempered in the natural springs of Laguiole (pronounced lah-yole), with a spring to close the blade and a handle fashioned from locally sourced ox horn. Thus was born an enduring tradition that took its name from the village.

An awl was added to some models for the convenience of farmers and, from 1880, due to demand from cafe owners and waiters, some also sported corkscrews. Domestic cutlery joined the line-up in the 1930s, placing Laguiole firmly on the culinary map.