L'Hermione

A tribute

L'Hermione is a knife I imagined and drew in 2024. Behind the project lies a personal story: a tribute to my father, who had a genuine passion for working boats and naval defence ships.

The 1779 frigate

The name L'Hermione refers directly to the famous French warship, commissioned in 1779 and withdrawn from service in 1793. Built at the Rochefort arsenal, she belongs to the Concorde class, a series of frigates whose construction began in 1777.

L'Hermione was a « frégate de 12 », a name referring to the calibre of her main artillery. She carried 26 twelve-pounder guns, plus 8 six-pounders. In naval parlance she was therefore known as a « 26-gun frigate », even though she originally carried 34 pieces of artillery in total.

From ship to knife

From that history, from the architecture of this three-masted frigate and from extensive photographic research, I began transposing the lines and features of the ship into the world of knife-making. My aim was to bring the spirit of a ship to life on a closed knife, working on its curves, its proportions and the details that evoke naval construction.

The mechanism

The first prototype was built around a liner lock mechanism. I then experimented with a forced-notch opening and lock, to explore another mechanical approach and gauge its possibilities. In the end I returned to the liner lock, a mechanism that better suits the spirit and lines of the project, with the option of fitting it with or without bearings, depending on the configuration.

L'Hermione is therefore far more than just a knife: it is the meeting of a family memory, a passion for the maritime world and a creative effort to turn the architecture of a historic ship into a contemporary object.