The Laguiole knife museum

What means the cross on the Laguiole knife handle?

It is called the "shepherd's cross"
It appeared quite recently : end of the XIX th century. Twice a year the bovine transhumance occurs on the vast basaltic Aubrac plateau where the Laguiole village is located in May, the Sunday closest to the 20 and in October on Saint Géraud Day). In the old days, the distance was covered by foot on the paths called drailles and thus the transhumance was a severl days expedition.
In our region were the catholic religion had a great importance, the transhumant shepherds used to stick their knife's blade into the bread. The cross was standing for an oratory for prayer (one says it is the shepherd's rosary). That is why this decoration appears on one sid side of the handle only.
The ancient Laguiole knives bear this decoration most of the time but other patterns adorned the knives on the customers demand.

What insect is represented on the spring?

It is the bee, symbol of the Laguiole knife.
Our local legend says it is Napoleon Bonaprte's imperial seal that was offered to the Laguiole town for token of his gratitude for the men's courage during the battles.
The bee is a technical term used by manufacturers to designate the springhead. On our famous knife the springhead is a bee.
Beware, a bee on a knife does not guaranty the quality or origin of the knife!

Is the bee the only pattern on the spring ?

Toujours en référence aux anciens couteaux Laguiole âgés de 100 à 150 ans, l’abeille n’est pas obligatoirement le seul motif visible sur le ressort des Laguiole. Une face humaine, un trêfle … à quatre feuilles (gage de porte-bonheur), une coquille Saint-Jacques (en référence au chemin de Saint Jacques qui traverse l’Aubrac), une abeille lisse, sans dessins, très stylisée, …

Why a Laguiole knife has to be sold and cannot be given ?

Superstition is the reason.
The custom says that a cutting object cannot be given in order to avoid the risk of cutting the love or frienship existing between the person who gives the present and the one who receives it.
To ward off misfortune or to maintain tradition, the person who receives a knife as a gift has to give a coin to the the one who offers the knife, the present becomes a trade.
When discussiong with our foreign customers, we realised that this tradition is widespread in all the neighbouring countries! Its origins are a mystery to contact us.

A few popular rumours about the Laguiole knives

- If you watch the knife horizontally with the bee downwards when the blade is folded, you will see that the top bolsterlooks like a whale head.
- In a laguiole knife, the blade symbolises water, the handle earth and the brass bolsters stands for fire.
- The blunt edge of the knife blade represents the days of the week.
- A 2 pieces laguiole knife handle composed of a blade and corkscrew is called a handle "woman leg" because if the bottom bolster is concave, then it looks like stiletto heels with the female calf above...