Le Thiers Monobloc Steak Knives (Set of 6)

About The Forging

The signature is Cœur de Forge (forge heart). This is not only because the team puts all its heart to work but also because it is one of the the last to produce full forged table knives. Guarantee of quality, this integral forge is made from a massive round steel bar heated until it merges. The bar is then pressed in order to obtain the final shape of the knife, a raw forged piece without any welding.

Forged in the best steels, the knives go through more than 40 manufacturing steps which main ones are the hardenning, the grinding, the handmade shaping and sharpening, to offer a perfect knife. Forged quality is characterized by a high robustness and sustainability, an excellent cutting performance and a very good balance in hand. At the same time, noble materials and careful manual finishing. This search for perfection allows the company to propose incomparable and unique knives and cutlery with high added value.

Specs of the Le Thiers knives: 100% French handcraft production, X46CR13 top quality stainless steel, hot forged, heat treatment, full blade cutting edge, washing machine cleaning/dishwasher safe, black cardboard box.

The Town of Thiers

Located in the Puy-de-Dôme, facing the Puys mountain chain in the heart of the Livradois-Forez Regional Nature Park, Thiers is a fascinating town that holds visitors in its thrall. A medieval town brimming with character stretching from its rocky spur to the fertile Limagne plain, Thiers proudly displays its cutlery manufacture, the history of which goes back six hundred years. Whether in a street name (rue de la Coutellerie, rue des Forgerons, rue des Usines, rue de l’Industrie, etc.), a trade sign hung outside or painted onto a boutique, the remains of the first industrial forges nestling in the valley or a paddle wheel on the Durolle river, it is impossible to wander around the town’s streets and alleys and not notice the myriad traces left by the cutlery industry.

It is claimed that the origin of the cutlery industry goes way back to the Middle Ages. Legend has it that it was the crusaders from the Auvergne who brought metalworking secrets back with them from their travels in the East. It is more likely, however, that the Thiers cutlery industry goes back to the 15th century as witnessed by the thirty or so knife makers referenced in the tax registers of the times. Within a century, this number had grown to two hundred. Thiers was not, however, an obvious candidate for developing this specialisation. There is no local iron mining or steel production, nor any sandstone quarries to provide the material for the millstones. While the closeness of Saint Etienne (an arms manufacturing town) certainly helped develop the knife-making industry in Thiers, it was the forceful River Durolle that would provide the hydraulic energy required to power the mills and knife-making workshops, coupled with the formidable obduracy and determination of a population living in a region of steep, rugged terrain. By the 17th century, Thiers was exporting its knives from ports in Bordeaux and Nantes, via Spain and Italy, down to the Levant. It was in the 19th century, however, that the industry would experience phenomenal growth with 25,000 people working in the cutlery industry by 1855.