Crafting Laguiole Knives: Why Fred Perret Is Concerned With Quality Over Quantity

Fred Perret

There is something intrinsically unique and special about a hand-crafted piece of art. Regardless of its true form, oftentimes it’s reminiscent of the process behind it rather than the finished product. Whether it be a painting or in the case of Fred Perret, a knife – there is often more dedication to the process and keeping traditions than in the excess of mass production. Even in more ancient parts of the world there has always been an inherent focus on traditionalism and maintaining a quality and reverent build in whatever capacity is being pursued.

It’s only been in more recent years that the capitalist takeover has blanketed a majority of creative industries. As a result, the traditional and quality focus on a lot of builds has been lost or left behind in lieu of a high profit margin. This is where true craftsmen make their presence known in the modern landscape. As an example, we’ll have a look at Fred Perret and his company Laguiole French Knives, which has sought to end the tide of knockoffs and inferior models touting the Laguiole title.

A Focus On Tradition

In this instance, we have an example of someone who has passion about the traditions and heritage of the product that is being produced. Stemming from a childhood exposure to the style and traditional build of the knife, it is from this experience that Fred Perret started to work on creating a handmade and well-crafted experience.

The focus on tradition necessitates the lack of machine intervention and more focus on heritage-based tactics to craft and create the products being sold.

 

Why Hand-Crafted & Backordered

The handcrafted aspects of the Laguiole knives are the reason why there are so many traditional creators like Fred Perret that have a large backlog of orders for their products. The wave of fakes on the market are typically created in factories and use inferior products to create the form but not the substance of the product.

This is where the capitalist conundrum comes into the fray – is it better to create a higher volume at a lower quality? The age-old question that doesn’t seem to faze Fred Perret as his knives have stayed the same since their inception, maintaining an air of quality that may not be plentiful or readily available, but is sustainable and dripping in premium quality.

 

Standing For The Creators

We have the belief that the best things do indeed take time, and for craftsmen like Fred Perret and his team, there should be more kudos given to those who have the patience for quality and don’t get tempted by the pursuit of a false profit. After all, the feeling of authenticity is much richer than having 5 fakes crumble in your hands.

 

Here is one of the quality knifes you can get from www.laguiole-french-knives.com:

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