Folding knives | Thiern 11cm

Thiers-Issard · Own design

The Thiern is Thiers-Issard's own take on the everyday French pocket knife: a clean, one-piece full handle, an 11 cm 12C27 blade, and nothing that doesn't need to be there.

11 cm
Blade length
12C27
Sandvik stainless steel
Full handle
Smooth, no bolsters
Thiern
Name on the blade, G.R. on the ricasso

Named after the town

The people of Thiers are the Thiernois, and the Thiern is a knife named for them. It is not a revival of an old regional pattern but a design by Thiers-Issard itself, made in the firm's workshop in Thiers and finished by hand.

Build and materials

A single-blade (1 pièce) knife with a full handle: the handle material runs the whole length of the knife without bolsters. The blade is Sandvik 12C27, a fine-grained Swedish stainless steel that is a favorite for pocket knives: it takes a keen edge, is easy to resharpen and resists rust well. Thiers-Issard makes it in woods such as olive, kingwood, ebony, yew, lemonwood, guaiac and bocote, and in pearl or black-and-white acrylic. Hand filework on the spring is an option.

The French pocket knife

In the early nineteenth century most people in France ate with their own folding knife. Women carried one in their pocket, often with a second silver blade for fruit; men's knives had a pruning blade and a corkscrew. Around 1850 the habit faded and the table knife took over at meals, but the pocket knife stayed with farmers, hunters, gardeners and anyone who worked outdoors.

Thiers was its capital. At the Paris exhibition of 1867 the town and its valley made 60 percent of all French cutlery, above all folding knives, and as late as 1960 pocket knives were still the largest single part of its output. Handles were made of horn, bone, buffalo horn and ebony shipped from Africa and the islands; before the Second World War Thiers imported around a thousand tonnes of buffalo horn a year, partly to cut into scales for pocket knives.

More pocket knives from Thiers-Issard

All our folding knives are made by hand by Thiers-Issard in Thiers. Explore the others: Le Thiers 9 cm · Le Thiers 11 cm · Le Thiers, forged · Le Thiers Sésame · Gabardier · Yatagan basque · Pradel · Galeam.

Frequently asked questions

Who makes the Thiern?
The Thiern is a Thiers-Issard design. It carries the Thiern name on the blade and the G.R. mark of Gilles Reynewaeter on the ricasso.
What does the name mean?
People from Thiers are called Thiernois. The Thiern is named after the town and its makers.
Can I get decorative filework?
Thiers-Issard offers hand filework on the spring as an option. Check the products above.