The Breton knife
The Breton knife, also known as the London, is a folding pocket knife with a sheepfoot blade in 12C27 stainless steel. Its rounded tip and flat-spring mechanism make it a simple, safe and easy-to-live-with knife, descended from sailors’ knives found along the Atlantic coast and manufactured in Thiers from the 19th century onward.
Description
The Breton is recognizable at first glance: a blade whose spine slopes toward the front, a rounded tip aligned with the cutting edge, and the silhouette of a knife made to work. This profile, known as a sheepfoot, comes from the maritime world. On board, a piercing point is a risk; a straight cutting edge that runs all the way to the end of the blade is a tool. This logic of use has crossed a century and a half without ageing.
In the hand, the flat handle with its front bolster settles naturally. Blue, white and red spacers slipped between the liners and handle mark the model without overdoing it. Stainless-steel screws allow clean disassembly if the knife ever needs to come back to my hands for refurbishment.
The mechanism deserves a closer look. It is a flat spring with a square tang: the blade tang bears against the spring, which holds it in both the open and closed positions. There is no lock, just firm resistance when opening and closing, like the popular folding knives from which it descends. A kick formed in the spring prevents the cutting edge from striking it when the knife closes: the edge is preserved and the knife folds without damage.
The blade is 3 mm-thick 12C27 stainless steel with a flat grind, making for a knife that tolerates being forgotten in a jacket pocket, apple juice and a slice of saucisson without demanding special care. The stamped nail nick allows a calm, two-handed opening in keeping with the spirit of the model.
Closed, it measures 10 cm and weighs about 105 g: the kind of format that disappears into a pocket and reappears at snack time. Open, its 19 cm — including roughly 9 cm of blade — are enough for bread, cheese or an apple cut into quarters on the corner of a board. It is an everyday knife, not a display piece.
It joins the French regional knives offered by the workshop, alongside the other handcrafted pocket knives in the range. Its history has travelled farther than its name suggests: it is told further down, and it is worth the detour.
History & inspiration
Calling this knife “the Breton” requires an honest explanation. Brittany is indeed part of its history - but as a territory of use, not as a place of birth. The real story is more interesting than folklore, and it plays out between three geographies: England, Thiers and the Atlantic coast.
A Western knife, made in Auvergne
In the 19th century, Thiers manufactured knives for all of France — and often under names other than its own. The basin employed around 25,000 people in 1855 and produced a multitude of so-called “regional” knives, intended for territories far from Auvergne. Tasty paradox: the French knife capital would only have its own model, Le Thiers®, in 1994. Le Breton is part of this production of traveling knives, shipped to the West via already well-established commercial circuits.
An assumed English inspiration
The shape comes from across the Channel. Sheffield cutlers have long been producing sheepsfoot profile blades – sheepsfoot in French – suitable for edge use. When this family of knives arrived in France, they received telling nicknames: “English genre”, “sailor”, or “London” – probably because at the time, everything that came from England seemed to come from London. “London” therefore designates a form and a parentage, not an English brand nor a regional name.
The Pradel, a documented landmark
The strongest milestone in the file has a name: the Pradel. According to Brigitte Liabeuf, former curator of the Thiers Cutlery Museum, its birth certificate dates back to around 1867, when Étienne Pradel, from the house Pradel-Chomette - whose brand featured a marine anchor - presented an English-style knife at the Universal Exhibition. It will be sold all along the west coast, from Normandy to Bordeaux via Brittany. Knife of sailors, but also of peasants, workers and coastal workers: a popular tool above all.
Sailors, sailors, Newfoundlanders
The maritime context is very real. The Channel and Atlantic ports then armed thousands of men for the big fishery in Newfoundland; on board, a sturdy folding boat is used for rope, fish, meals and a thousand everyday tasks. The rounded tip limits injuries when rolling and works the line without snagging. These knives, wet with sea water, rusted quickly: few old pieces have survived, which partly explains the gray areas in the file.
What remains uncertain
Some stories are still circulating and deserve to be reported as such. The etymology by a naval battle against the HMS London? Narrative hypothesis, uncorroborated. A regulation – sometimes attributed to Colbert – requiring sailors to break the tip of their knife? No primary source confirms it. A “Breton knife” standardized and transmitted without interruption for two centuries? The available sources rather suggest a family of similar forms, with slippery names, distributed throughout the West. A great story doesn't have to be fake to be interesting.
Le Breton today
Le Breton offered here is in line with this tradition: a series model from the cutlery production of the Thiers basin, as were the knives which left for the Atlantic ports one hundred and fifty years ago. Each copy then goes through the Courpière workshop for adjustment, assembly, finishing and sharpening.
Sources and in-depth study
- Brigitte Liabeuf, former curator of the Thiers Cutlery Museum — dating the Pradel “around 1867” and its link with the Universal Exhibition.
- Camille Pagé, Cutlery from the origins to the present day (late 19th century) — English style sailor's knives made in Thiernoise.
- Christian Lemasson, Knives of France. History of regional knives (Artémis, 2020).
- National Maritime Museum and Newfoundland Museum of Saint-Malo — context of great fishing.
Materials
The blade is cut from 12C27, a classic cutlery stainless steel. For a pocket knife, it is a common sense choice: it tolerates humidity, acidic fruit and forgetting to dry, resharpens without difficulty and ages well with minimal maintenance. Its thickness of 3 mm and its flat grind give a solid blade, suitable for table and pocket uses.
The mechanism is based on three parts: two plates, a spring, and the square heel of the blade which rests on it. The plates are recessed to make the movement smoother, their interior edges softened to the touch, and the interior of the spring is polished. The front bolster, where the axle nail is housed, reinforces the most stressed area of the handle. The blue, white and red fiberglass dividers, visible on the edge, are a discreet reminder of where this knife comes from. The handle is secured with stainless steel screws — a choice that facilitates maintenance and future repairs — and the metal parts receive a satin finish.
On the sleeve side, eight options are available:
- Buis — blond, with a tight grain, it develops a soft patina with age and the hand.
- Cade — a Mediterranean juniper with marked veining and an odor recognizable when shaped.
- Olivier — brown veined on a honey background, each handle is different from the neighbor.
- Ebony from Gabon — dense and almost black, sober to the touch and to the eye.
- Padouk burl — tormented figures and warm tint for the most demonstrative versions.
- Black horn and blond horn — the historical material of popular folding sheets, each plate being unique.
- Elforyn — a modern, consistent and stable ivory substitute for the ivory look without protected animal material.
Le Breton is a series model, in the Thiers logic that has always existed: its parts come from the cutlery production of the Thiers basin, then each knife is adjusted, assembled, finished, sharpened and checked one by one in my Courpière workshop. The hallmark engraved on the blade signs this work.
Use & care
Le Breton is a versatile pocket knife, designed for everyday use: a snack, an apple, bread and cheese from a picnic, the string from a package, the small cuts that mark the day. Its rounded tip slightly changes the way you work: you don't prick, you slice — and for anything that cuts on a board or in the hand, the straight edge does its job very well.
You also need to know what it is not. Like any folding slipjoint mechanism, it does not have a lock: no major torsional efforts are required of it, nor batoning, nor forceful work. It's not a bushcraft knife, it's a pocket knife — and that's fine.
Routine maintenance
- Wipe the blade after use, especially after acidic or salty foods, then dry the knife before storing it. The 12C27 is stainless, not invulnerable.
- Avoid the dishwasher and any prolonged immersion: water seeps into the joint and the wood does not appreciate it.
- Wooden and horn handles live with ambient humidity: dry storage and, for wood, a little oil from time to time are enough to keep them in shape.
- Keep the joint clean; a drop of suitable oil if the opening becomes less flexible.
- Sharpen when the edge requires it, rather than waiting until it is completely dull: a few regular passes are better than a major overhaul.
And if the knife has lived a long time, the workshop ensures its sharpening and restoration: a knife mounted on screws can be dismantled, repaired and left for years.
FAQ
What is a Breton or London knife?
This is a sheepsfoot blade folding pocket knife: back folded forward, rounded tip aligned with the edge. This family of knives, of English inspiration, was largely manufactured in Thiers at 19th century and distributed throughout the Atlantic coast, where it was used by sailors and farmers alike. “Breton” and “London” today designate the same type of utility knife, simple and robust.
Is the London really a Breton knife?
Not in the strict sense. Brittany belongs to its historical distribution zone - sources place it from Normandy to Bordeaux - but the model was manufactured in Thiers and inspired by English knives from Sheffield. The “Breton” label was established through usage and trade rather than through a documented regional origin. It is a knife from the maritime West, adopted by the Bretons among others.
Why does the blade have a rounded tip?
This sheepsfoot profile comes from on-board uses: a blade without a sharp point limits injuries when rolling and allows the rope to be cut by pressing the entire length of the cutting edge. Tradition sometimes mentions a regulatory obligation to break the points upon boarding, but no primary source confirms this. The shape is explained firstly by the common sense of working at sea.
Where does the name “London” come from?
This is a nickname given in France to this English-style knife - probably because at 19th century, everything that arrived from England seemed to come from London. He has also been called "English kind", "sailor" or "topman". The hypothesis of a name inherited from a naval battle against the HMS London comes from the story, not from the documented fact.
What is the difference between a London and a Pradel?
The two names largely cover the same family. The Pradel is the best-documented landmark: presented around 1867 at the Universal Exhibition by Étienne Pradel, this English-style knife was first nicknamed "london" or "sailor" before retaining the name of its manufacturer. Depending on the workshops and periods, the proportions and finishes vary, but the relationship is direct.
Which steel is used in the Breton FL Toussaint knife?
A stainless steel 12C27, in 3 mm thickness, mounted in Flat grind. It is a steel proven in pocket cutlery: it resists everyday corrosion well – fruit, cheese, humidity – and is easily resharpened. Historical sailor’s knives were made of carbon steel and rusted quickly on contact with seawater; stainless steel solves this problem without changing the character of the knife.
Where and how is this knife made?
Le Breton is a series model: its parts come from the cutlery production of the Thiers basin, exactly like the knives of this family which left for the Atlantic at 19th century. Each copy is then adjusted, assembled, finished, sharpened and checked in my workshop in Courpière, in the Thiers basin, before receiving the FL Toussaint hallmark on the blade.
How to maintain your mechanism and handle?
Wipe and dry the knife after use, avoid dishwasher and immersion. Keep the joint clean, with a drop of suitable oil if necessary. Wooden handles appreciate dry storage and light oiling from time to time; the horn simply asks to avoid prolonged heat and dryness. Sharpen regularly, without waiting until the edge is dull.
Customer reviews
No reviews yet.
Be the first to share your experience with this product.
