Alpin
The ALPIN is an iconic knife from Savoy. There, it is affectionately known as the SAVOYARD or MONTAGNARD. It was first produced in the 19th century and became famous ... know more
The ALPIN is an iconic knife from Savoy. There, it is affectionately known as the SAVOYARD or MONTAGNARD.
It was first produced in the 19th century and became famous thanks to the Opinel cutlery firm in Gévoudaz – and later in Grenoble – which manufactured it as a simple utility knife for the Alpine rural population of Savoy and the surrounding regions. So originally, it had to be able to cope, above all, with the multiple challenges of daily work including mountain farming, cheese-making and timber harvesting. But not just that. Pocket knives were used throughout France and, quite naturally, for preparing food in the kitchen, at the table and for a lunch break in the fields.
What the farmers required, therefore, was nothing less than an all-rounder. The solution was found in a knife with a belly-shaped handle, which was bevelled at the end for even better handling and complemented by a broad Yatagan blade.
To make matters more difficult, the knives had to be cheap, as the farmers were poor and the wear and tear on knives from daily use was high. So the handles were turned on a lathe rather than being made from individual shells, and the spring – a complicated and expensive component of a pocket knife that also required specialist knowledge of steels and hardening processes – was completely dispensed. It was replaced by the virolle, a simple and ingenious invention that was once developed by the cutlers in Nontron in the Périgord.
At an exhibition in Turin in 1911, Joseph Opinel did indeed display an ALPIN with a spring mechanism, but he did not pursue the idea any further. Instead, the idea was taken up by the cutlers in Thiers, who went on to manufacture it (see here).
In 2017, Robert Beillonnet, a two-time ‘Meilleur Ouvrier de France’, took on this iconic French regional knife and redesigned the ALPIN for PassionFrance®. His interpretation of the ALPIN incorporates not only aesthetic improvements but also numerous technical and structural enhancements, making it a further milestone in the development of this type of knife. Robert Beillonnet takes into account the social changes of the past 150 years. His design is no longer aimed so much at a rural clientele, but rather at people in a changed, modern, urban world who love both: an exceptional knife suitable for everyday use and an object of particular beauty. He has therefore dispensed with the rustic steel bolsters on the handles and replaced them with so-called ‘full handles’. On the one hand, this makes his knives considerably more elegant, but it also makes them significantly more difficult to manufacture. At the same time, he emphasises the characteristic design elements more clearly. He systematically eliminates the structural drawbacks of the ALPIN in its previous design. In his version, the blades no longer impact the spring, as was previously the case. Nor can they be pressed down onto the spring by hand, as is the case, for example, with a ‘poinstage’ impact stop. His knives are, in principle, stopped from impacting by a separate rivet inside and therefore cannot be pressed in any further. In addition, the blades feature a characteristic back bevel and a choil between the cutting edge and the talon, which simplifies resharpening.
Alongside our standard size with 11 cm handles, which we call the Grand-ALPIN, we have recently added a little brother (or is it a sister?) with a handle length of almost 10 cm, which fits into small pockets, is always to hand when needed . . . and is still a true, proper ALPIN. We call it the Petit-ALPIN.
As a mark of their authenticity, our ALPIN knives bear the Robert Beillonnet logo on the blade, as well as the PassionFrance® coat of arms, the Coq.
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