WISHLIST
Emblem of an ancestral heritage and know-how, ambassador of a city resolutely facing the future, the Le Thiers® knife was created in 1994 by the Confrérie du Couté de Tié.
Born of an innovative associative approach, this knife is the fruit of a paradox: Thiers, which manufactured many regional knives such as the “Le Normand”, “L’Aurillac”, “Le Laguiole”, “Le Langres”, “L’Issoire”, to name just a few, did not actually have a knife of its own. Since then, the “Le Thiers” has made a name for itself in the knife-making environment where it continues to sharpen its reputation.
A GROUP ADVENTURE
The Le Thiers® knife has given a new lease of life to the Thiers basin, while helping to ward off Chinese competition, by manufacturing a product that is 100% local, 100% Made in France, and that cannot be delocalized. The adventure was launched by a group of cutlers, designers and blade enthusiasts. The Confrérie was then registered as an association that has so far gathered nearly 200 members including manufacturers in the Thiers basin.
Le Thiers® was born on 7 November 1994. By joining the Confrérie, any knife manufacturer from the Thiers basin is free to interpret their version of the knife according to a defined set of rules and specifications.
A SIMPLE IDEA THAT CAN BE EXPRESSED IN MANY WAYS
Modern and timeless, the Le Thiers® has an instantly recognizable shape: a double wave with inverted obliques at both ends of the handle. The design of the Le Thiers® knife has been filed at the INPI (the French Trademark Office). The model is owned by the Confrérie. Any companion manufacturer who wishes to produce their own version of the knife must first submit a prototype to the Guild Council and obtain authorization before being given the green light to start production.
As with the historical master cutlers’ guilds, the present-day guild oversees end-to-end traceability, from the processing of raw materials right through to the finished product.
STRINGENT RULES, COLLECTIVE CONTROL
In a globalized environment, the Confrérie du Couteau de Thiers decided to guarantee the authenticity of the Le Thiers® knife manufacture and to verify the knife’s technical, regional and qualitative compliance. To do this, every step in the manufacturing process must be performed in the Thiers area of cutlery manufacture, and must be stamped with the brand’s trademark and logo.
LE THIERS®
A modern knife in a town of opportunity, the fruit of an enthusiastic collective momentum. While, at the outset, Le Thiers® represented no more than a micro-market.
Today it is a resounding marketing success, its future ensured by the 45 manufacturing companies and 11 artisan cutlers who produce some 500 different versions of the knife, every one of which has been approved by the Confrérie.
Find out more at https://lethiers.fr/