How the Opinel story started

The story Opinel is one of the fabulous destiny of a little Savoyard folding knife invented by Joseph Opinel in 1890 which quickly became an item of our daily life and elevated itself as a world design icon. A family story at the heart of the French Alps, for 133 years. To be continued...

1890

In 1890, Joseph Opinel turned 18 and worked in the family workshop. With a passion for new machines and innovative technologies, he built his own camera and soon became the photographer for weddings and special events in his area. Led by his passion for machinery and the manufacturing process, he decided to invent an object which he could manufacture using modern technology. Against his father's wishes, he spent most of his free time refining the shape and manufacturing of a small pocket knife: the Opinel No.08 was born!

1909

In 1565, King Charles IX of France ordered that every master cutler affix an emblem on their manufactured items to attest for the origin and quality. To follow in this tradition, Joseph Opinel chose the Crowned Hand as his emblem in 1909. The blessing hand is that of Saint John the Baptist, taken from the coat of arms of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, the nearest town in Albiez-le-Vieux, the birthplace of the Opinel family. Joseph Opinel added a crown as a reminder that Savoie was a duchy. All the blades on Opinel knives and tools have been stamped with The Crowned Hand ever since.

1955

Originally, the Opinel knife had four components: the blade, the fixed ferrule, the rivet and the haft. The fixed ferrule was needed to firmly rivet the blade to the haft. In 1955, Marcel Opinel, who had been working on improving the safety of the knife, invented the Virobloc®system. He added a rotating ferrule which slid onto the fixed ferrule, closing the groove and thus locking the blade in the open position. The idea was simple enough but hard to achieve. In the 90’s, the Virobloc®system was modified to lock the blade in the closed position. This feature was added to all models in the early 2000's.

1989

Opinel is part of French cultural heritage and is cited by name in many publications. In 1989, it received an entry in the Larousse dictionary, alongside the brands Bic, Frigidaire and Solex as a registered trade name with the following current definition: folding knife featuring a wooden haft with a groove in which the blade is inserted when the knife is closed.

2000

Forty years after its invention by Marcel Opinel, the Virobloc ® is modified in 2000 with a second security, called transport safety, which secures the blade in the closed position.

2013

In 1989, Jacques Opinel turned the workshop of his grandfather Jean (Joseph's brother), who was also a blacksmith/edge-tool maker, into a museum. The Opinel museumis located in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and rapidly became one of the top visitor destinations in Savoie. This free, private museum exploring Opinel's history was successfully renovated and enlarged in 2013 and then again in 2018 by the Opinel company, Jacques Opinel and his son Maxime. There, you will discover the Opinel family's origins and Savoie roots, as well as the changes to the manufacturing processes and the technical and commercial development of the brand.

VISIT THE OPINEL MUSEUM

2016

In order to better serve the company’s fastest growing market, Maurice Opinel decided it was time to expand the brand globally by opening a satellite office. The expansion of the Opinel brand in Chicago, USA, signaled that our historic brand was here to stay and was ready to meet the challenges of the North American market. In early 2023 Opinel USA celebrated its seventh anniversary.

MEET THE TEAM

2017

July 2017, the first Opinel store opened in Annecy, France. Millions of locals and international travelers stop by this beautiful Alpine town on their way to the famous ski resorts!
22 Rue Filaterie, 74000 Annecy, France.

The Opinel Story

1985

2003

2017