Cutlery

Collectible cutlery encompasses all cutting or grooming instruments crafted for personal use: folding-blade penknives, table and pocket knives, nail implements, paper knives and letter openers. Originally objects of everyday life, they gradually attained the status of prestige pieces between the 18th and early 20th centuries, commissioned by a wealthy clientele keen to marry utility with aesthetics. France, and more specifically the Nogent-en-Bassigny basin in Haute-Marne, established itself as one of the great European centres of production, alongside Sheffield in England and Solingen in Germany.

The master cutlers of Nogent supplied the greatest houses — Hermès, Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Alfred Dunhill, Asprey, Puiforcat, Louis Vuitton — with pieces worked in exceptional materials: fine oriental mother-of-pearl, tortoiseshell, deer horn, stag antler, gold, solid silver or vermeil. Handles in guillochéd or chased silver coin constitute a particularly sought-after hallmark of Belle Époque and Art Deco productions.

For the discerning collector, several criteria determine the value of a piece: the condition of the blades and opening mechanisms, which must retain their original precision and smoothness; the presence and legibility of the guarantee and maker's hallmarks, which attest to the precious metal content and the identity of the maker; and finally, the signatures or stamps of the commissioning great houses, which confer upon these instruments a dual artisanal and commercial legitimacy.