Virgilio Muñoz: a certificate for your knife
We examine your knife and enter it into the A.I.P.C.L., even if you bought it elsewhere
Videos about this forge
We visit the workshops ourselves and show how the work is done. One click opens the video on YouTube.
You own a knife by Virgilio Muñoz but did not buy it at original-laguiole.de? You can still have it entered into the A.I.P.C.L. A genuine knife from this forge stays a genuine knife, whichever counter it crossed.
Who is Virgilio Muñoz?
Virgilio Muñoz is a master of the first rank: his name unites the highest technical precision, creative elegance and the honourable title Meilleur Ouvrier de France. Every handle is carefully chosen, every spring discreetly chased, every ornament a familiar breath of luxury. His knives are works of art rather than tools, and at the same time entirely practical in daily use: a rare union of beauty and function.
What we look at on a knife by Virgilio Muñoz
Every forge has its signature. With Virgilio Muñoz it is the technical precision and the discreetly chased spring that reveal the Meilleur Ouvrier de France. 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
Virgilio Muñoz is a master of the first rank. His name brings together technical precision, elegance of design and the title Meilleur Ouvrier de France, one of the highest distinctions French craft can award. It is granted after an examination in which the craftsman submits a masterpiece, and it cannot be bought.
That standard is visible in every piece. Every handle is carefully chosen, every spring restrained in its filework, every decoration carried just far enough to have effect without becoming heavy. His knives are works of art more than tools, and yet they remain usable every day, a combination rarely achieved in Laguiole knife making.
With knives of this kind the question of origin is never a formality. It decides the value, and it does so permanently. The A.I.P.C.L. records number, date and owner and passes the entry to the new owner when the knife is sold on, so that the chain is never broken.
More about this forge
How it works
You order the examination. In the original-laguiole.de shop, for 10.00 euros, like a product. Then you upload photographs of your knife in your customer account: open and closed, the bee, the spine, the blade with the forge mark, and if available the receipt or packaging.
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 eurosExamining 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.
The examination is ordered in the original-laguiole.de shop. With the purchase 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)