Traditional French Fry day

kamagong said:
Thank you for the info Alain. Do you have any idea when my knife may have been made?
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Impossible to date with any precision, like most Lags.
Remember, the guillochage is kinda signature of the cutler and yours looks very similar to the right one (btw these shapes are more often used on Sheffield's guillochage), though mouches are totally different.

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The second is a Fayet Besset and looked like this before update by a skilled man of Thiers in 2012.
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Yours is really unique and handsome, beware the blade, Fayet-Besset had the reputation of making very sharp uns! 👍
 
As always, thank you for your insight Alain. I wonder when the stamp for this knife was used or retired. Jean-Marc mentioned to me that although this is an old brand, there are not many knives around with this company's stamp.
 
Wow! I haven't been here for quite some time. I had some catching up to do! Several new knives in my collection, but I haven't taken pictures of all of them yet. I finally found a boxwood that I'm happy with - this Yatagan Basque from Coutellerie La Civette with an inlaid rosewood lauburu.

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Hello - just found this thread. One of the very first decent knives I've ever owned was a Laguiole purchased from a nice little knife shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea (California) some 20-ish years ago. I didn't know dirt about knives at the time! But I liked it. I've since heard a bit more about the meaning of "Laguiole", the many makers, the many fakes, etc. I still don't know much about these traditional slip joints. If anyone has insight or enlightenment I'll thank you in advance.

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vanjakim said:
Hello - just found this thread. One of the very first decent knives I've ever owned was a Laguiole purchased from a nice little knife shop in Carmel-by-the-Sea (California) some 20-ish years ago. I didn't know dirt about knives at the time! But I liked it. I've since heard a bit more about the meaning of "Laguiole", the many makers, the many fakes, etc. I still don't know much about these traditional slip joints. If anyone has insight or enlightenment I'll thank you in advance.

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Nice knife. Did you say that you bought that from Carmel? I bet it cost you a pretty penny.

Âchillepattada said:
Oil the joint AND the spring ;)

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Â
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Sage advice. 🤣
 
kamagong said:
Just received this vintage piece. At least I think it's vintage, hopefully Âchillepattada Âchillepattada or Jolipapa Jolipapa can shed some light on it.

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Unfortunately I think it's been cleaned, as the surface on the pile side of the blade is not perfectly flat, but rather uneven. The polishing scratches aren't parallel either. I tried my best to capture it in this image, but taking a good pic of a shiny surface is beyond my limited skills.

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I like this guillochage. So different from what is currently in vogue.

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This is the only laguiole I have where the blade actually rests on the backspring. I suppose I better heed the old piece of advice, "ressort silencieux, couteau deviendra vieux."
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I like seeing older models/maker's work. Very interesting Christian!!
 
Jolipapa said:
Impossible to date with any precision, like most Lags.
Remember, the guillochage is kinda signature of the cutler and yours looks very similar to the right one (btw these shapes are more often used on Sheffield's guillochage), though mouches are totally different.

View attachment 1911240View attachment 1911241

The second is a Fayet Besset and looked like this before update by a skilled man of Thiers in 2012.
0110.jpg


Yours is really unique and handsome, beware the blade, Fayet-Besset had the reputation of making very sharp uns! 👍
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JP, your comments enrichen the world of French knives for a neophyte like me!! Thank you for all your items of information!! I may not comment, but I read your writings avidly!!
 
kamagong said:
Nice knife. Did you say that you bought that from Carmel? I bet it cost you a pretty penny.



Sage advice. 🤣
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I believe it was $200-ish? Was a long time ago! And as you've seen, I haven't really taken care of it properly; this will snap me out of my laggard ways :)
 
kamagong said:
As always, thank you for your insight Alain. I wonder when the stamp for this knife was used or retired. Jean-Marc mentioned to me that although this is an old brand, there are not many knives around with this company's stamp.
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JM is right.
They were good quality users and owner's death happened when the business was starting again. Can't say exactly when the stamp stopped being used. Cy has been renewed as a cutler trade back in '94 (new owner) and mention is made that the cy is no more in business since 19-08-2010.
Fayet had many trade marks : some can be found here with the symbol. All stopped being used between 1978 (Sauzède Angely 55) and 2003 (La Mouche).

He also supplied many "manufacturers (à la Joyeux, on a greater scale) and some shops. In the first cas no stamp (just the seller's), for the second, shop and sometime city appear along the horse head.

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L'Eyra (aka Jaguarundi)

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La Mouche

This one looks not unknown 😉 :
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(unfortunately most pages with trademarks are in Flash, unusable...)

A few Fayet made with various markings :
Véritable Laguiole for Coupat (St Flour)
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Véritable Sauzède 55 Angély
VERITABLE SAUZEDE 55 LAGUIOLE ANGELY .jpg

Besset brand fleames
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Some blades have been replaced and it is sometime difficult to track the real cutler, This is the case for this old Aurillac.
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waynorth said:
I like seeing older models/maker's work. Very interesting Christian!!
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Thank you Charlie. This knife has me perplexed. Although the blade's surface is wavy on the pile side, I wonder if it was simply the victim of an inexpert polishing/sharpening job. The blade is very full, the swedges crisp, and I found what looked liked polishing compound on the underside of the mouche. I seriously wonder if this knife has ever been used.
 
kamagong said:
I think Alain is referring to the fact that Joyeux provides knives for other companies under the own names, in addition to the "La Clef des champs" stamp we are familiar with. Similar to how Camillus would be contracted to produce knives by other brands.
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Jolipapa said:
I don't think Fayet still supplied blades when PYJ started working. I was meaning that PYJ also works for others as subcontractor, without signing his work (B. Coupat of St Flour for instance, amazingly just like Fayet )

kamagong kamagong : you were quicker than me! 👍
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Doh!!! I took the wrong fork!!
Thanks for straightening me out guys!!
 
Charlie I'm sorry, my writing was perhaps not very clear!
kamagong said:
Thank you Charlie. This knife has me perplexed. Although the blade's surface is wavy on the pile side, I wonder if it was simply the victim of an inexpert polishing/sharpening job. The blade is very full, the swedges crisp, and I found what looked liked polishing compound on the underside of the mouche. I seriously wonder if this knife has ever been used.
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I have no proof of what I say, just my 2cts. It is possible that your knife has been completely dismantled and rebuilt with a better looking spring and handle. This could be an explanation to the remains of compound.
If this was made by the person I'm thinking of, he was a very skilled assembler and a nice person.
 
Jolipapa said:
Charlie I'm sorry, my writing was perhaps not very clear!

I have no proof of what I say, just my 2cts. It is possible that your knife has been completely dismantled and rebuilt with a better looking spring and handle. This could be an explanation to the remains of compound.
If this was made by the person I'm thinking of, he was a very skilled assembler and a nice person.
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That would make sense. And not necessarily illegitimate. IIRC either you or Âchillepattada Âchillepattada have mentioned that it was not uncommon to take an old, worn out laguiole into the shop for a blade exchange.

It would also explain the use of ivory for the covers. Seems an oddly luxurious choice for this knife.
 
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