Opinel x Bernardaud, steel meets porcelain

Mathieu Dubus | 6/28/24, 1:09 PM

Opinel and Bernardaud have launched a new range of five table knives, an unprecedented collaboration that emerged from the mind of a great chef. We tell you all about it.

Opinel and Bernardaud are the story of the meeting of Savoie and Haute-Vienne, of cutlery and porcelain. The two companies were born respectively from the hands of Michel Bernardaud and Joseph Opinel in the second half of the 19ᵉ century. Both have become benchmarks in the art of the table over the decades. So why not bring them together? Jean Sulpice came up with the idea! In the course of a conversation during a factory visit, the chef of the Auberge du Père Bise (4 toques) suggested the collaboration. For the resident of Talloires-Montmin, on the shores of Lake Annecy, it was the coming together of "two houses of excellence in French art de vivre".

A collection with a Japanese accent

The collection is presented as "a complex combination of porcelain and steel, softness and sharpness, sensuality and strength". François Opinel and Michel Bernardaud hope these knives will "sublimate the finest tables around the world." To this end, they have chosen a kintsugi decor, imagined by the artist Sarkis. Kintsugi is a technique born in the Land of the Rising Sun in the XVIᵉ century. The principle is simple: make repairs visible on the porcelain knife handle by mixing lacquer and gold.

The gold decoration continues on the blade of one of the knives, offering for the first time a gold-colored blade on an Opinel. The dimensions are precise, 10 centimeters for the blade and 10.4 centimeters for the handle. The five final creations are as follows:

Kintsugi charcoal, silver mirror blade
Kintsugi charcoal, gold mirror blade
Kintsugi charcoal, black mirror blade
Kintsugi gold, gold mirror blade
Kintsugi gold, silver mirror blade

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