Photo by the forge
Forge de Laguiole: the forge and its knives
The forge introduces itself: its workshop, its signature and its knives
A portrait of the forge
There are knives named after a place, and there are knives that come from that place.
After the First World War knife making had all but vanished from Laguiole. The village still had the name, but the knives had long been made elsewhere. In 1985 a handful of people decided that was not enough: elected representatives of the village, craftsmen, farmers and lovers of the Aubrac. They wanted to bring their knife home.
In 1987 the Forge de Laguiole stood in the village. And not in just any shed: Philippe Starck designed the building, whose roof carries an eighteen-metre blade rising into the Aubrac sky. From that day on, forging returned to Laguiole.
To this day everything is made on site. The steel comes from French production, as do the spring, the horn and the wood. Even the box and the label are French. That is not an advertising idea, it is a stance.
The Forge is also a school. Virgilio Muñoz Caballero, Meilleur Ouvrier de France, perfected his craft here, and Stéphane Rambaud has been building his one-off pieces here since the mid-2000s. Many of the best knifemakers in France started out in these workshops.
Inside the workshop
15These pictures were provided by the forge itself.
New and remarkable
4What the forge shows us: new models, special editions, arrangements from their own workshop.
Where the knives are made
Forge de Laguiole
Everything about this forge, its history and its signature is on our page about the forge.
Have your Forge de Laguiole knife examined
You already own a knife from this forge? We can examine it and issue an A.I.P.C.L. certificate of authenticity - no matter where you bought it.
You own a knife by the Forge de Laguiole? 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 the Forge de Laguiole
Every forge has its signature. At the Forge de Laguiole it is the complete making in one place: the fit of blade and spring, the guillochage, the shape of the bee and the mark of the forge. 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.
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)