Sabatier

Sabatier is the maker's mark used by several kitchen knife manufacturers—by itself it is not a registered brand name. The name Sabatier is considered to imply a high-quality knife produced by one of a number of manufacturers in the Thiers region of France using a fully forged process; the knives of some of these manufacturers are highly regarded. However, the name "Sabatier" came into use before intellectual property laws and is not protected; knives legally bearing the name range from high-quality knives made in France to cheap mass-produced products of poor quality from France and other countries; a registered logo or full name, or both, such as "65 Sabatier Perrier", is necessary to establish origin and quality.

The name originated in Thiers, France at the beginning of the 19th century. The area of Thiers has been associated with the cutlery industry since the Middle Ages. With the advent of the industrial age manufacturers began to consolidate their crafts or trades by creating brand or trade marks.

Two separate families began using the name Sabatier to market their knives. The families do not appear to be related except by name and craft. Jean Sabatier of Le Moutier (lower Thiers) and Phillipe Sabatier of Bellevue (upper Thiers). There is much dispute who registered the trademark first with each citing evidence.

The use of the Sabatier name is an anomaly of "branding" because the name was used by many different companies before intellectual property or trademark laws were fully established in France. In order to distinguish between the various makers of Sabatier knives, manufacturers are required to include a second word or symbol along with SABATIER. Over the years many marks were registered. In 1979, after the sale of the Moutier Sabatier brands to Cuisinox, the various holders of the brands formed an association to protect the brand name.

Among the many Sabatier manufacturers in Thiers, France, most provide high quality cutlery using traditional forging techniques that were developed in the area in the early and mid-19th century. Most of these manufacturers use a "fully forged" technique and a hand shaping and sharpening process using local skilled labour.

Fully forged means that three of the four knife parts (blade, bolster, tang and handle) are forged from a single piece of steel. In this process, a single cylinder shaped steel billet is heated where the bolster will be, and squeezed from the ends to create a bulge. The entire piece is heated again and forged to the shape of the blade, bolster, and tang using forging dies in one operation. Afterward, a clipping tool is used to cut the forged piece to the rough shape of the knife. Finally, the handles are riveted on, and the final shaping and sharpening is done by hand. The alternative way to manufacture knives is stamping; forging has traditionally been considered superior, but from the late 20th century some knives of excellent quality have been produced by stamping.

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