Nontron knife shop

NONTRON knives - the oldest pocket knife in France  
 In Perigord, iron ore was already being mined by the Petrocoric people before the Christian era and the Gauls set up the first forges on the slopes of the Azat in the NONTRON region.
Charlemagne VII's sword is said to have been forged in NONTRON. Dogs running in round cages drove the polishing stones via a belt system.
The Paris police files bear witness to the fact that disputes in the Parisian underworld were often settled with a NONTRON knife.
Henry VI was also killed with a NONTRON knife that is still kept in the Louvre today. The origin and meaning of the inverted V with three dots remains unclear to this day - the motif has been used since the beginning of the 16th century as a victory sign “Vicor” by the students of Salamanca in Spain.
Today, as then, it is turned, ground, polished and sharpened by hand in the workshops of the “Coutellerie Nontronnaise”.
It is a guarantor of tradition and perpetuates the art of the fine blade. Its beautifully grained wooden handle made of boxwood is dense, solid and discreetly branded. This makes each NONTRON, still made by hand at its place of origin, an absolutely unique piece. The reputation of NONTRON knives as the oldest French knives has existed for a long time.
The knives are the result of an alchemy that has developed from the meeting of the cold waters of the Bandiat and the local iron ore deposits since time immemorial. Around 1300, poets praised the quality of the iron and steel of the knives from the “Pierregord” in Saint Palaye's glossary. In the Middle Ages, the “knives from the Pierregord” can be found in records in Paris.
During their travels, a stay in NONTRON became compulsory for Parisian journeymen in order to perfect their skills. This established a tradition that lasted for centuries. In 1788, the Bordeaux business register listed 39 cutlers in the Périgord, five of them in NONTRON (then 2800 inhabitants), who stood out for the exceptional quality of their work and employed eight workers. There are reports of remarkable knives, characterized by their small size and exceptional manufacturing quality.
They are also exported as curiosities: Miniature knives in walnut or hazelnut shells, originally created as gifts from journeyman cutlers to impress their sweethearts. At the beginning of the 20th century, a female NONTRON worker set a bizarre record by placing 154 microscopically small NONTRON knives in a cherry stone.
The Bernard company, which was founded in 1780, had pocket knives, butcher's knives, table knives, scissors, razors and surgical instruments in its range.
The water of the Bandiat guaranteed the special hardening of the steel blades and the boxwood from the surrounding area, the Charante and the Causses du Quércy provided the material from which the handles were turned. It is the densest and hardest of the local woods, so dense that it no longer floats. It takes 40 to 80 years of growth and maturing, as well as years of drying, to achieve the special stability and fineness of the grain. These qualities are known throughout France. And in his historical novels set in Normandy, La Varende often put these knives in the hands of his protagonists in the 18th century.
NONTRON knives were not only very popular in the Parisian underworld, but were also prized by the bourgeoisie and aristocracy, who had luxury models made from ebony, nickel silver and silver. From the end of the 19th century, different handle shapes also appeared: in addition to the spherical shape, knives with two metal rings, handles in the shape of a carp's tail and those called “sabot” or “galoche” (wooden shoe) were added. Since then, the blade can also be determined with the help of the metal ring, the “virole”.
The large knives made of NONTRON with a locked blade by conscripts also served as so-called “trench cleaners” during the First World War. At the beginning of the 20th century, only the NONTRON knife forge remained in the Dordogne, while the other forges in the department gradually disappeared. Despite the vicissitudes of the times, this knife forge continued to operate during the Second World War: the sheet metal of discarded Citroens C4 had to be used as a substitute for the brass rings and, in addition to the local boxwood, holly and acacia wood were also used.
For the farmers and inhabitants of the region, the small knife has remained an indispensable companion to this day: made in the region with its blade in the shape of an olive leaf, it cuts bread and cheese, mushrooms and willow rods. It has always been a valuable helper at work, whether on the horses' harness or in the garden. Even today, the NONTRON is still made by hand at its place of origin.
The blades are individually forged and hardened from A440 stainless steel or, on request, from traditional carbon steel.
NONTRON knives are the oldest and most original knives in France