PassionFrance

PassionFrance®, the name and its logo, the Coq are protected. From the Gauls to these days it has had a symbolic meaning in France. Our atelier is situated in Thiers and our logo guarantees that our knives are 100% handcrafted.

Knives from the series LUXE with the COQ on the blade were designed by the two-time "Meilleur Ouvrier de France", Robert Beillonnet. They are protected to prevent copies. It is a family of exclusive knives at a highest level with fine details. In addition to the logo on the blade, they show the Robert Beillonnet logo and the key of the blade steel on the Ricasso: 14C28, RWL34, XC75. In addition to these knives, unique pieces and customized models are created according to our inspiration with exclusive handles such as mammoth tusk or with Damascus blades.

The LAGUIOLE PassionFrance® design Robert Beillonnet won the INTERNATIONAL KNIVE AWARD in 2010 and was honored with the award “KNIFE OF THE YEAR 2010”. A film broadcast in the series 360 ° GEO on ARTE accompanies the story of its creation. In addition to the Petit- and Grand-LAGUIOLE (11cm and 12cm handle length), he designed the Petit- and Grand-ALPIN with 9.5cm and 11cm handle length in the following years. It was followed by the LONDON and the SEURRE.

The blades in our series LUXE have a casse-goutte and bevel on the back. They do not touch the spring being stopped with an own pin before and cannot be pressed in as it is usually.

We use the blade steels XC75, 12C27, 14C28 and RWL34. We could win some exceptional blacksmiths for our damascus blades: Alain Dumousset, Raymond Rosa and Philippe Ricard in France. In Germany, the Damascus blacksmith Balbach in Laubuseschenbach, specialized in INOX Damascus steels, forged 4 different INOX and one carbon damascus for us, its patterns were specially forged to the special features of our models designed by Robert Beillonnet.

Normally we make our knives "plein manche", that means with a handle without bolsters, which gives them a fine elegance. We manufacture versions with steel or mosaic bolsters according to our inspiration or on demand.

We manufacture our knives either with a "lisse", which means an undecorated spring, with ornated liners or with guilloches on the spring and deliver them with a certificate of authenticity. 

At the same time, we have kept an eye on regional knives from other regions such as: AGENAIS, DONJON, GWALARN (with the coat of arms of Brittany), MINEUR, POISSON-CULOT, SAINT-AMANS, SIR-MEC (from September), VENDETTA and YSSINGEAUX . See below.

Knives that show the coat of arms of another blacksmith in addition to the COQ are not made by us in our atelier, but are made in one of the coutelleries we are friends with in our neighborhood. They have well-trained knife makers who are able to produce them to the quality standards we want.

We have created various cases for our knives, which are made entirely by hand by a friendly leather manufacturer in Burgundy from carefully selected calfskins. In addition, there are individual pieces made from exclusive types of leather with a soft inner leather lining, whereby we pay close attention to species protection. The leather of these cases is not embossed; it has its natural structure and is not constantly available. Please ask us about the currently available sizes and colors.
A new "SOFT" series with a flap, created in 2021, combines calfskin with real Swiss linen felt.

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