Scarperia Knives

Handmade Italian knives from Scarperia (Florence)For more than 600 years Scarperia has been home to the industry of handmade knives, well-known all over the world for the quality, the strength and the durability of their blades.

The origin of this long, illustrious tradition of iron-working and blade making is lost in the mists of time but one thing has been handed down from a generation of craftsmen to the next one: the simple and essential gestures that forge perfect blades and change them into legendary knives, made to last much longer than a lifetime.


Each knife made in this charming Tuscan village, just a few miles north of Florence, is hand-forged using the finest materials available. They are designed to exceed the highest standards in cutting performance both in your kitchen and on your dining table.

By Tiziana Manzetti
 

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Know more about Scarperia

Italian table knives handmade in Scarperia (Florence)Scarperia is a delicious Medieval town in the North of Tuscany, founded in 1306 by the City of Florence on the outskirts of the Appennino mountains. The place was strategic, as the city was crossed by the only road reaching Florence from the North.

The origin of the knife making industry in Scarperia is unclear, but we know from the inventory of the properties of a Florentine banker, dated 1479, that the knives made in Scarperia were by then a valuable possession!
 

Simple shapes, horn handles, hand-forged blades: the secret of the popularity of Scarperia knives was not in their frills or breathtaking beauty. The people crowding the craftsmen workshops lining the city main road were looking for a cutting tool with a perfect and long-lasting blade.

 

The knife's maker workshop - The Knives Museum in Scarperia - Photocredits: M. Fiorenzani

In 1538, proud of the superiority of their cutting tools, the knife makers of Scarperia formed a Guild with the purpose of protecting the secrets of their crafts and agreeing on a set of rules 

defining the quality of the materials and the technical standards of their goods.


The Golden Age of Scarperia came to a sudden stop with the opening of new pass road connecting the center of Italy to the North. Many craftsmen were forced to close their workshop but with some ups and downs the tradition has survived.

The craftsmen we have selected, Berti and Consigli, have taken upon themselves to protect the tradition and the perfection of the knives of Scarperia, using for their products only the finest materials and hand-forging their blades with the same meticulous care as in centuries past.