Opinel knife shop
Opinel knife shop
An OPINEL is a folding knife with a wooden handle, which is manufactured in Savoy. From the beginning in 1890 until today, the French company OPINEL has been family-owned. It is currently managed by Denis OPINEL, a great-grandson of the founder.
Over the years, the knife developed for agricultural work has only been slightly modified and further developed in terms of function and shape. In France in particular, the Opinel is considered a classic of everyday culture. In Germany, you can carry this knife with confidence because it can be opened with two hands and is therefore permitted here.
There is an OPINEL museum (Le Musée de l'Opinel) in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. The factory employs around 100 people at its two production sites in Cognin and Chambéry. Every year, four to five million of the folding knives are produced for worldwide distribution. Although the production process has changed considerably since 1920, great importance is still attached to traditional craftsmanship. After all, OPINEL took part in the international exhibition in Turin in 1911 with its products and received a gold medal for its work.
The logo of the main couronnée (“the crowned hand”) was already stamped on the first Opinel knives. The words OPINEL and FRANCE were added later.
The classic model is made from the materials typical of its place of origin: a handle made from beech wood, the blade stamped from carbon steel. The C90 tool steel used has a carbon content of 0.9 percent. This material gives the blade its sharpness after hardening. It leads to wear during use, which makes regular resharpening necessary. As this steel contains no chromium, the blade shows signs of corrosion after contact with moisture. To prevent rust, I recommend drying it after use and ideally treating it with a little acid-free oil.
In the 21st century, OPINEL brought new variants of the basic model onto the market. Precious types of wood such as oak, walnut, olive, rosewood and hornbeam are used, as is horn from African cattle. Sandvik 12C27M steel is used for the stainless steel blades. Bubinga wood handle with a stainless steel blade is considered a luxury model.
The OPINEL knife consists of four or five parts: a blade, a wooden handle, a pivot pin for folding the blade, a sheet metal sleeve at the front end, and above this (except in the case of the smallest models up to size n°5) a rotating locking ring (“Virobloc”). This can be used to lock the blade in the open and closed position to prevent injuries caused by unwanted closing or opening of the knife. This mechanism has been further developed so that it can lock the blade against unintentional opening when closed.
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