David Dauvillaire: the forge and its knives
The forge introduces itself: its workshop, its signature and its knives
More about this forge
You own a knife by David Dauvillaire? Then you can have it entered into the A.I.P.C.L. We check that it is genuine, and your knife receives its own number, its own page and its certificate - a proof that stays with it, even when it changes hands.
What we look at on a knife by David Dauvillaire
Every forge has its signature. With David Dauvillaire it is the finish at the highest level and the consistent shape that mark out this small workshop. That is exactly what allows a knife to be identified, and it is what we examine in your photographs. If a question remains, we go to the forge itself.
A portrait of the forge
David Dauvillaire was born in 1974 in Rodez, in the heart of the Aveyron and very close to the village of Laguiole. From 1991 he spent three years learning in the workshops of Laguiole, but factory work alone was not enough for him. While still an apprentice he set up a workshop of his own, where he rebuilt old Laguiole knives piece by piece. Nicolas Crocombette, who was cutler, sculptor and engraver in one person, shaped him deeply; he refined his engraving further in private lessons with the Belgian master engraver Roland Batiste.
For more than nineteen years he studied the Laguiole knife, over ten of them at Laguiole en Aubrac, where he worked on legendary series such as Concorde, France and Golden Gate. For more than a decade he has worked under his own name. Today he lives with his family on the Aubrac plateau in the small village of Lunet, with the workshop in his own house. His partner Yolande supports him, looking after customer relations and dispatch.
Everything is done by hand, with no industrial methods. Under the microscope, file and graver produce the fine engraving on triple bolsters that is his signature. For him the bee is not ornament but a sign of perseverance and love of good work; his bees are his own designs, often joined by figures such as mammoths or characters from Greek myth. Every piece is unique, and collectors around the world wait for them.
How it works
You register your knife. Right here on aipcl.com, with no sign-up beforehand: name the forge and upload the photographs - open and closed, the bee, the spine, the blade with the forge mark, and if available the receipt or packaging. Then you pay the examination fee; we create your customer account along the way.
We examine it. We compare your knife with what we know from 30 years of trading with French forges, and when in doubt we ask the forge itself.
You get the result. If your knife is genuine it receives its own number, its page on aipcl.com and the certificate as a PDF. If it is not, we tell you that too.
What it costs
10.00 eurosor 15 CARMOS points from original-laguiole.de - what those are is explained there.
Examining and registering one knife costs 10.00 euros.
If the examination shows that your knife does not come from a French forge, we refund the amount, of course. You pay only for a certificate you actually receive.
You order and pay here on aipcl.com, by PayPal or by bank transfer in advance. With the payment you buy the examination, not the certificate; whether we issue it depends on the result of examining your photographs.
Order the examination (10.00 euros)