True, what are you doing making knives?

It’s a bloody good question and I don’t mind you asking, thanks! 

If I’m honest, a happy accident led me to it, but there’s more to it than mere chance. My professional life began as a Coast Guard Rescue Air-Crewman and helicopter mechanic. This foundation, combined with a lifetime interest in motorsports and all manner of aircraft and race-car fabrication provided the technical chops.

My wife helped to nurture my affinity for food & travel, for art, architecture and sculpture and these experiences inform my aesthetic. The travel though exposed me to the legacies of craftsmen who’s names will never be known. It’s less the great sculptor or painter that resonates with me and more the the laborers & stone-masons who built Firenze’s Duomo….. 

I care little for the Medici who paid for it and less about the Pope it was meant to impress, but the men who built it? They interest me. The marks from their tools remain in the stone, their fingerprints remain in the grout, the legacy of their lives outlives them and will outlive us all. 

Simplicity, efficiency and an elegance of design are all things that individually I’ve always been able to wrap my head around. I’ve long held great admiration for those who can combine two out of three and reverence for the rare few who achieve all three in their work. This craft affords me the opportunity to slow down or even back up and ensure that every element of a piece is refined to the best of my ability….seeking, but yet to attain three out of three. 

So why knives? That’s where the food comes in. I’ve always loved to cook, eat & drink but travel & my wife’s patient guidance showed me the power of food to nourish understanding of shared histories and strengthen the bonds between cultures & generations. 

The simple beauty of putting one’s love into a meal and sharing that……while I can’t come into your home and experience the love at your table, if I can make a simple, efficient, beautiful knife that you use to make that meal for people you love….then I feel as if I have been a part of your experience….

….and for that I thank you.

True Tourtillott