Surprising Knife Capital in Europe's

I’d been drawn to this small Auvergne town (population 11,600) by its long history of craftsmanship. Knives were being made here at least as far back as the 15th Century, and probably as early as the 13th, according to the ancient grindstones found just below town by the Durolle River, which powered the mill paddlewheels.
And knives have been made here ever since. In fact, the man showing me the knife in his shop, his fingertips cracked and blackened, had made many of them himself.
Dominique Chambriard, wearing a traditional blue workman’s tunic, proudly led me to a version of the area’s iconic knife, ‘Le Thiers’, which was designed in 1993, when the Confrerie du Couteau Le Thiers (Brotherhood of the Thiers Knife) was set up to make a knife distinctive to their town. Fifteen local master knife-makers (including Chambriard), over a period of months, designed a simple, subtle, organic design for ‘Le Thiers’, based on ideas from their 16th-Century guild forefathers.
“We had two priorities: beautiful, simple design, and excellent function,” Chambriard told me in French.
Today, the proof of those priorities is evident in the many subtle variations – perhaps a proportionally longer blade or embellished handle ­– upon the approved graceful design. These fine modern folding knives are assembled usually by one artisan, mostly by hand, using a hammer, metal snips and electric belt grinders and polishers.
Currently, there are more than 200 coutelleries, family-owned knife workshops, in the Brotherhood, including Coutellerie Robert-David, which has been operating under different family names since 1919. The shop offers a variety of knives in many styles, including a version of the iconic Le Thiers.
Before I arrived in town, I called and asked if I could come to the shop and order a Le Thiers knife, choosing in person the exact piece of material for the handle, the blade and the folding spring. “Oui, certainement,” said Monsieur Stéphane Brossard, a great-grandson of the founder.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Punctual Nation in The World By: Safwan Salleh Although many countries are saddled with stereotypes, in Switzerland’s case they’re not. The alpine nation really is highly efficient. And meticulously punctual. Clean, too. For chronically tardy, resolutely inefficient, people like to visit Switzerland yields a cocktail of emotions, awe, relief and a dash of irritation. For the Swiss, punctuality is important, a bonbon in the buffet of life. It is a source of deep contentment.  The Swiss, it seems, subscribe to the German philosopher Schopenhauer’s definition of happiness as “an absence of misery”. They derive genuine joy from the fact that life unfolds on time and in a highly efficient manner.
Read more

Mangroves Keeping Vietnam Afloat

Image
By: Safwan Salleh The rising of sea levels threaten to drown the Mekong Delta, which produces the majority of Vietnam’s rice. The only thing standing between the country and the ocean is a tree. The  Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment   predicts that the ocean will swallow more than a third of the region by the year 2100, taking a swath of Ho Chi Minh City with it. Halfway up the coast from the Mekong Delta, Hoi An’s prognosis is better, but it’s not immune. The city sits where the Thu Bon River meets the South China Sea. Its inhabitants are already used to hauling furniture upstairs during seasonal floods. Mangroves are the climate superheroes of the natural world. They grow in swamps along the coasts with thin trunks and tangled, spidery roots submerged in dark, briny water. The roots filter saltwater and can expand eroded coastlines. They also create natural storm barriers and protect agricultural land from saltwater infiltration. And on top of everything else, mang
Read more
Image
Nobody expect, Johannesburg attracts expats looking to accomplish a lot and integrate quickly, bursting with the energy and pace of a big city but with the friendliness town. “The thing I love most about Joburg is that it is a city of opportunity,” said Crystal Espin, originally from Cape Town and founder of local blog  Joburg’s Darling . “You get the feeling that everyone is here to make something of themselves.” Gerrard Hattfield, originally from Cape Town and founder of travel site  Flight Factory , agrees, calling the city ‘The Silicon Valley of South Africa’. He explained that “compared to Cape Town, which is more laid back, Joburg is extremely hard working.” South Africa’s largest city has significantly invested in the growth of small businesses, with the creation of the Ministry of Small Business Development in 2014. The city also recently hosted  The Global Entrepreneurship Congress , which brought together entrepreneurs, investors and researchers from 165 countries to
Read more