Yssingeaux
The YSSINGEAUX / i.sɛ̃.ʒo. Its history goes back to the 18th century. It is the progenitor of a great family of knives, including the LAGUIOLE-DROIT, from which the LAGUIOLE with its curved ... know more
The YSSINGEAUX / i.sɛ̃.ʒo. Its history goes back to the 18th century. It is the progenitor of a great family of knives, including the LAGUIOLE-DROIT, from which the LAGUIOLE with its curved handle later developed, and the ISSOIRE. Located in the Haute-Loire, overlooking the Aveyron and the volcanic landscape of the Massif Central, lies the town that gave the knife its name. The name, which looks like a tongue-twister, is in fact easy to pronounce: Isengschoh / i.sɛ̃.ʒo. Historians trace it back to a Germanic occupier named ‘Isingaud’ in the 5th century. In the regional dialect, it is known as ‘Los Cinc Jalhs’, meaning ‘the five cocks’, which also feature in the town’s coat of arms … which we find particularly charming, as PassionFrance® itself features a cock in its coat of arms.
The YSSINGEAUX features a straight handle with an end known as ‘bec de corbin’ and a Bourbonnaise blade. It is handy, versatile, robust and is perfect in its lines and shape. Over the generations, it became the daily companion of the rural population, the townspeople and the nobles, as examples of precious materials in collections demonstrate. Thanks to the “routiers”, travelling merchants who journeyed through France and as far as Spain in horse-drawn carts, trading the specialities of the Auvergne, the pocket knife spread far beyond the borders of the Auvergne to the major cities of Paris, Lyon and Marseille.
It was only his grandson, the LAGUIOLE, who challenged his dominance. But that's another story. The YSSINGEAUX remained the region's most prominent and widespread knife. Perhaps partly because of its beauty, it is one of our absolute favourite knives and is currently enjoying a veritable renaissance in France as well.
To adapt it to the exigencies of our times, PassionFrance® has reworked and redesigned the YSSINGEAUX: its blades are now free of contact with the spring and feature a significant back bevel towards the tip, à l’entablure, which corresponds perfectly with the nail groove and lends it additional elegance. The handles have a cool and elegant look, crafted from hand-selected white bone or the most exclusive precious woods, hand-selected and stabilised by Novawood.
The first edition, which we have finally been able to produce again after a long break, was immediately sold out. We are therefore currently working on the next edition, for which we also intend to produce a number of CUSTOM models, featuring front mitres made from Mokume-gane or titanium damask. Stay tuned and get in touch with us if you are interested in such a knife.
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