Opinel Museum

A walk down memory lane

Opinel has been turning knife making into a way of life since 1890.

At Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, nearly 700m² are dedicated to the story of the famous Savoie knife invented by Joseph Opinel. Through permanent and temporary exhibitions, our free museum invites you to discover the great events that have made our brand what it is today.

Our museum is suitable for all ages, with fun material to support children's trips and brochures translated into foreign languages.
Take a trip into town to snap a picture next to the two giant monuments in the shape of Opinel knives which are located in the middle of a roundabout and at a skate park.

Hours of Operation

OPENING DAYS
Open all year round:
From January to June and from September to December:
Open every day except Sunday and bank holidays.

July and August:
Open every day, 7 days a week

OPENING HOURS
9.00am to 6.30pm continuously
Visits end 30 minutes before closing

PRICES
Free admission
Pets not allowed

ADDRESS
The museum is in downtown Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
OPINEL MUSEUM
25, RUE JEAN JAURÈS
73300 ST-JEAN-DE-MAURIENNE

The Opinel Road

The Opinel Tour takes the name from the itinerary linking the Opinel Museum in Saint Jean de Maurienne to the Opinel Place in the heart of the Albiez-Montrond village.

The itinerary follows the valley of the Arvan river which is directly linked to the history of the Opinel knife. Throughout the 20km route, several stages enable you to discover the Opinel monuments and ruins.

The first monument you will encounter, on the road to the Mollard Pass, is the Opinel roundabout, a 3.83m high knife undertaken by Jean-Claude Opinel in 2002.

Take the road signposted to Albiez-le-Vieux and after a few hundred metres you come to the Combe outdoor activities area where you will find the world’s largest Opinel. Reaching a height of 4.8m and weighing over a ton, this giant Opinel made of stainless steel and concrete takes centre stage of the skatepark and is used for jumps by the skaters.

Continuing a further 6km along the valley, in the first bend after the Gevoudaz bridge, you will discover the old factory belonging to Joseph Opinel. Here in this building which is currently being restored, the Opinel knives were made between the years 1901 and 1915. From this site you will be able to take a footpath to the ruins of the first Opinel workshop which dates back to 1830.

After returning to your car, you need to climb the bending road for 10km until you reach the Albiez-le-Vieux plateau. Here you arrive at the Place Opinel with it’s giant aluminium monument unveiled in 2011 in honour of the Opinel family, natives of the village.

Museum History

The historic building housing the Opinel Museum was built in 1932 by Jean Opinel, a blacksmith/edge-tool maker like his brother Joseph, the creator of the famous pocket knife.

After leaving their original hamlet of Gevoudaz in the valley of Arvan in the early twentieth century, Jean, his son Daniel and his grandson Jacques manufactured tools and knives in the workshop of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne until 1973 under the brand Croix de Savoie.

From 1973 to 1985, the building was then used as a subsidiary workshop of the Opinel company, which had already been established on Chambéry's outskirts since 1915.

In 1989, Jacques Opinel, Joseph's grand-nephew, transformed the site of Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne into a free private museum telling all about the history of the Opinel®.

In 2012, the museum began to be renovated by the Opinel company and Maxime Opinel, son of Jacques, with firstly a phase of expansion and renovation work accompanied by a new museum in 2013.

The museum expanded again in 2018 to accommodate 50,000 visitors annually.

Download the Museum Tour Guide

Opinel Museum

A walk down memory lane

The Opinel Story