In the Puy-de-Dôme department of Auvergne, in the heart of France, lies Thiers—a city renowned throughout the country as the historic capital of the cutlery industry. For more than seven centuries, the skilled craftsmen of Thiers have supplied both domestic and professional kitchens in France and abroad with essential steel cutlery, especially knives.
The origins of knife-making in Thiers likely date back to the Middle Ages, with the first documented mention of local cutlers appearing in the 15th century. Yet nothing inherently destined this Auvergne town for such a vocation. Thiers lacked both iron ore for blades and sandstone for grinding wheels. What it did have was the fast-flowing Durolle River, whose energy powered waterwheels and machinery, and a tenacious, hard-working population, who toiled in the fields during summer and turned to blade-making in the winter months.
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