Hi all,

I hope someone can help. My brother just received this email from an
American friend. I've done some of the obvious research, Google.fr for
any of the names, and so on, a careful look through all known French
knife trademarks and so on and so forth. Got nowhere at all. Now given
that Sabatier has never been one company, but a sort of gage of
quality rather like "Sheffield" in the Uk, and has never been based in
Paris, my brother and I wondered if it might not have been a fake,
especially as references to Bresduck seem to be to a New York firm
of razor makers!

Are there any knife fans amongst you who could see if you can find out
more? Here's the original text of the letter.

PD> Sorry for the bother, but I've a question you might know something
about I was casting about trying to figure out something about a
knife I bought years ago. It's an old, heavily used carbon steel
Sabatier 10 inch with a wooden handle with 3 brass rivets, and is
marked "Veritable Bresduck, Sabatier Paris-France, Chef au Ritz"
stamped over top of a caricature of a chef complete with hat and
moustaches. Incidentally, I bought it in Eugene, Oregon in a
"flea market" for $1.75 and have often mused, "If knives could talk,
what stories they could tell". It's a wonderful thing to work with in
the kitchen.

Know any Francophile historians out there who might now where I could
find out about the history of this model. Google sends me to new
Sabatier knives, now made in China, or ebay.


--
All the best
Ian Hoare

"Ian Hoare" > skrev i melding
...
> Are there any knife fans amongst you who could see if you can find out
> more? Here's the original text of the letter.
>
Hi Ian
I googled too and found the following in
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?...pic=60384&st=0

Ditto here, I really love my my old carbon steel Sabatiers, but did you know
Sabatier is a style of knife not a company. Just like Laguiole knives, lots
of different companies make them. This accounts for the huge variation in
quality. Some are even made in china, so be careful! I mine are from several
different companies but the ones from "Chef au Ritz" Paris are the highest
quality.

The writer seems to be a chef in Switzerland.

That forum might be something for you, Ian? The thread was The Ultimate
Knife..., Kershaw? Global? Mac? Vintage Sabatier?

best,
Anders

Ian Hoare wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I hope someone can help. My brother just received this email from an
> American friend. I've done some of the obvious research, Google.fr for
> any of the names, and so on, a careful look through all known French
> knife trademarks and so on and so forth. Got nowhere at all. Now given
> that Sabatier has never been one company, but a sort of gage of
> quality rather like "Sheffield" in the Uk, and has never been based in
> Paris, my brother and I wondered if it might not have been a fake,
> especially as references to Bresduck seem to be to a New York firm
> of razor makers!
>
> Are there any knife fans amongst you who could see if you can find out
> more? Here's the original text of the letter.
>
> PD> Sorry for the bother, but I've a question you might know something
> about I was casting about trying to figure out something about a
> knife I bought years ago. It's an old, heavily used carbon steel
> Sabatier 10 inch with a wooden handle with 3 brass rivets, and is
> marked "Veritable Bresduck, Sabatier Paris-France, Chef au Ritz"
> stamped over top of a caricature of a chef complete with hat and
> moustaches. Incidentally, I bought it in Eugene, Oregon in a
> "flea market" for $1.75 and have often mused, "If knives could talk,
> what stories they could tell". It's a wonderful thing to work with in
> the kitchen.
>
> Know any Francophile historians out there who might now where I could
> find out about the history of this model. Google sends me to new
> Sabatier knives, now made in China, or ebay.

Sabatier knives of many types have been sold in the US for a very long
time. Many are sold by cooking supply companies, including mail order
ones. Some companies import Sabatier knives from an unnamed French
company or use their US company name on the blades. I have 2 types of
Sabatier knives, about 25 - 30 years old. A rather large stainless
knife just says" Professional Sabatier, Made in France, stainless" on
the blade. A carbon steel paring knife has "Sabatier, Rowoco, made in
France, 4 stars, and an elephant engraved on the blade. The handle has
"Sabatier, 4 stars, and the elephant" on it. In this case one finds
that Rowoco is a US company in New York that was importing and selling
Sabatier knives and much else in the 1970s, and they might still be in
business. The name on the knife gives you no information about who
might have made the knife in France. I suspect the names on your knife
might be a company or brand name of an importer and have nothing to do
with who made the knife in France. For an old knife, the company that
imported it could well be out of business, so a search for it would be
difficult.

PCD Cutlery in the US sells many brands of knives. Their current
catalog lists Sabatier knives in either carbon or stainless steel, and
the blades have the 4 stars and the elephant that I described on one of
my knives. The text of the catalog says that the knives are by Thiers
Issard of Thiers, France, but this information is not on the blade or
handle of the knife, the best I can see the illustrations. The elephant
could be a trademark of the French company, or again it could be that
of an importer.

On Fri, 23 Dec 2005 22:31:57 GMT, "Anders Tørneskog"
> wrote:

>http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?...pic=60384&st=0
>
>Ditto here, I really love my my old carbon steel Sabatiers, but did you know
>Sabatier is a style of knife not a company. Just like Laguiole knives, lots
>of different companies make them. This accounts for the huge variation in
>quality. Some are even made in china, so be careful! I mine are from several
>different companies but the ones from "Chef au Ritz" Paris are the highest
>quality.
>
>The writer seems to be a chef in Switzerland.
>
>That forum might be something for you, Ian? The thread was The Ultimate
>Knife..., Kershaw? Global? Mac? Vintage Sabatier?

very interesting. Thanks very much indeed, though I was a little
shocked at the price of some knives!

--
All the best
Ian Hoare

Try the blade website www.bladesrus.com hosted by G.Jackson
Rippah.............
"Ian Hoare" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
> Again, thanks very much to you too,
>
> On 23 Dec 2005 20:03:35 -0800, "
> > wrote:
>
> >Sabatier knives of many types have been sold in the US for a very long
> >time. Many are sold by cooking supply companies, including mail order
> >ones. Some companies import Sabatier knives from an unnamed French
> >company or use their US company name on the blades.
>
> Which is, apparently what happened here.
>
> I received this from another friend
>
> >DSProbably genuine. "Chef au Ritz" is a brand under the Bresduck
> >DSname. The NYC division made tonsorial equipment, but they made
> >DSother cutlery for distribution around the world (they were a
> >DSGerman company IIRC.) From what I have been able to find, their
> >DSproducts were branded and/or labeled appropriately for sale in
> >DSvarious countries, so your brother's friend's knife was probably
originally
> >DSintended for the French market and although labeled "Paris - France"
> >DScould have been made in Germany.
> >DS
> >DSOther "Chef au Ritz" knives pop up occasionally on eBay and other
> >DSauction sites. They aren't great valuable Knives of the Gods, but
> >DSapparently they are serviceable and dependable because they nearly
> >DSalways sell.
>
> >DSI don't think the German wing of the company survived WW2; the
> >DSAmerican branch was eventually sold to a company called Pebco and
> >DSnow makes barber shears.
>
> Thanks to both you and Anders for responding.
>
> --
> All the best
> Ian Hoare